Duke Basketball: 2019-20 keys to beat Georgetown in 2K Empire Classic

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: The Duke Blue Devils mascot performs against the Michigan State Spartans during the second half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – MARCH 09: Greg Malinowski #11 of the Georgetown Hoyas and teammates react from the bench during the second half of the game against the Marquette Golden Eagles at Fiserv Forum on March 09, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

3. Don’t let the game be close with five minutes to go

“Blow out your opponent” seems like a simple key that all sports teams should aspire to. But the upset that Evansville had over Kentucky should be a wakeup call for all the supposed “heavyweights” in college basketball. The Wildcats never could shake the Purple Aces and gave the underdogs the confidence needed to beat them in the end. Considering how proud a program and head coach that Partick Ewing and Georgetown Basketball are, there’s no way they’ll be scared to take on Duke.

That puts a lot of pressure on a very young team with a massive target on their backs. They’ll be playing in Madison Square Garden on primetime television against a projected “bubble team” who desperately could use a massive resume victory in front of everyone. Coach Ewing also is looking for that program-defining win in his short era to push Georgetown back to the top of the Big East.

To be fair, this group has shown its composure already multiple times this season. They took out Kansas in a tight contest to start things off and were eventually able to dispatch Georgia State in the second half. So a close game against the Hoyas won’t cause them to choke.

Current Big East Basketball power rankings. dark. Next

In the end though, you don’t want a big game like this to be close and give the Hoyas a chance to win it late. The Hoyas aren’t the kind of team who can come back from an early double-digit deficit so if Duke can throw a massive punch, it could end up being a boring second half. But if they miss and allow Georgetown to counterpunch, we may have a fourth No. 1 ranked team in the season.

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