Louisville vs. Duke: 2019-20 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

All eyes are on the Atlantic Coast Conference this Saturday evening when Louisville makes the trip to Durham, N.C., to duel with Duke.

TV schedule: Saturday, January 18, 6:00 pm ET. ESPN.
Arena: Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.

Atlantic Coast Conference supremacy is at stake on Saturday night, in a top-15 tilt featuring Louisville and Duke inside the frenetic Cameron Indoor Stadium. It’s no secret that the ACC is a bit soft so far in the 2019-20 campaign, however, the No. 11 Cardinals (14-3, 5-1) and the No. 3 Blue Devils (15-2, 5-1) still are certainly among the premier crews across the collegiate-hoops landscape.

After enduring a slight rough patch, Louisville is trending in a positive direction, having won three straight, including a thrilling five-point conquest in overtime at Pittsburgh earlier this week. While a terrific affair, the Cardinals did receive the benefit of an awful call by the officials in the waning moments, although Louisville could have absolutely ended up triumphing, regardless of that epic blunder.

To date, the Cardinals sit at No. 15 in the NCAA NET system, and they have defeated both Miami and the aforementioned Panthers on two occasions each, as well as Michigan. Louisville’s trio of losses are to three excellent groups in Texas Tech, Kentucky and Florida State.

Meanwhile, Duke, at No. 6 in the NET, had captured nine-consecutive contests before the Blue Devils fell on the road to Clemson on Jan. 14, in a somewhat puzzling outcome. Duke’s resume is relatively strong, with victories versus Kansas, Michigan State, Georgetown, California, Virginia Tech, Wofford, Georgia Tech and those Miami Hurricanes.

In addition to Duke’s setback to the Tigers, the Blue Devils got surprisingly knocked off by two points in an extra session, at home, to Stephen F. Austin. Some pundits say this shocking result is the biggest upset at this juncture in the 2019-20 stanza.

Duke and the Cardinals are not only going toe to toe for first place in the ACC standings, but they’re also trying to position themselves for superior seeds in March Madness. For now, bracketologists view the Blue Devils as a No. 1 seed, and Louisville is placed on the number-four line.

This encounter pits one of the league’s best offenses against a stout defense. Duke is generating 83.1 points every 40 minutes, and the Cardinals are allowing just 61.6 points. In other statistical categories, the Blue Devils have the advantage in field-goal shooting, assists, blocks and steals.

Louisville, conversely, gets the nod in turnovers committed, as well as shooting from the charity stripe and beyond the arc. Rebounding is virtually identical.

Whichever unit can get things going from deep, collect points by crashing the offensive glass, and capitalize on miscues will have an excellent opportunity to succeed.

A wonderful facet of this bout is that it highlights a pair of the conference’s finest players in Duke’s freshman center, Vernon Carey Jr., and the Cardinals’ junior forward, Jordan Nwora. Carey puts up 17.6 points and 8.5 boards per meeting. For Nwora, it’s 20.4 points and 7.4 rebounds.

ESPN’s Basketball Power Index says that the Blue Devils are a huge favorite, at 83.9 percent, to prevail. Louisville is really good, but I like Duke to take care of business at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Prediction: Duke 71 – Louisville 68