Duke Basketball: 3 keys for Blue Devils versus UCF in Round of 32

1. Control the tempo and speed up the game.

The Knights love to slow the game down on the offensive side of the ball. On offense, they are extremely methodical and efficient.  They have excellent ball movement, before finding the open player for an open shot.

The Blue Devils have a contrast to the Knights idea of tempo. The Blue Devils love to speed up their opponents and play the game with a fast tempo. The Blue Devils can start pushing the pace on the defensive side of the ball from the help of point guard Tre Jones. Jones is a great on-ball defender, who forces the opposing team to start their offense near the half-court line. He has shut down opposing point guards in the ACC from Coby White to Ty Jerome.

Because of Jones pesky on-ball pressure, the Blue Devils wing can be aggressive when they play passing lanes. With the Blue Devils being able to play aggressively on defense it can speed up opposing teams, resulting in transition baskets for Duke. When the Blue Devils defense turns into offense, Duke is at their absolute best.  This is usually when the Blue Devils can go on their great spurts in a game.

If the Blue Devils can speed the game up, they should be able to avoid an upset from the Knights.  Look for Jones and Cam Reddish to be impactful players in speeding up the Knights and keeping the game uptempo.