Duke vs Pittsburgh: 5 biggest storylines for 2019-20 ACC matchup

Defense

In Dukes’s most recent two losses, their man to man defense, which has been pretty good this season, wasn’t able to keep up with their matchups.  Clemson back cut Duke to death, as did Louisville to a certain extent, but both held significant advantages in points in the paint.

Louisville was able to attack the center of the lane by dragging Carey out, when they weren’t drawing fouls, and exploiting their 6’5″ point guard on a smaller Tre Jones.  He would probably admit that he didn’t have his best game so it will be interesting to see how they fare with the active and strong guards of Pitt.

Duke has used full-court pressure more this year than relying on a zone that has worked for them in the past few seasons.  With the system that the Panthers play, through their guards and limiting possessions with use of the shot clock, a press may not be as effective to a team that regularly uses clock and could lead to some easy baskets if Pitt can break any pressure that Duke may apply.

Duke is also still without the services of Wendell Moore, who may be the most versatile piece Coach K has on a team that is becoming known for it.  He is a plus defender who can switch and defend four positions.  He comes back in February, tentatively, so Duke will have to continue to help Matthew Hurt and Joey Baker although they are solid team defenders with the ability to block shots from a trailing position.