Illinois vs Duke: 2020-21 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Joey Loose
Illinois and Duke meet in a bigtime matchup in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge; which top ten team gets a much-needed big win?
TV schedule: Tuesday, December 8, 9:30 pm ET. ESPN
Arena: Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina
Illinois (3-1) opened the season with huge expectations and will look to bounce back after losing their tough battle to #2 Baylor last week. The Illini took care of business in their first three games, even surviving a tough effort from Ohio, but this win would be huge for the program.
Ayo Dosunmu (23.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 6.3 apg) has been the real deal this season, putting up at least 18 points in all four games and distributing the ball very well. Sophomore center Kofi Cockburn (13.0 ppg, 9.8 rpg) is a force down low, while freshman guard Adam Miller (14.5 ppg) has provided an important scoring boost early on in his college career.
Despite their loss last week, Illinois still sits at #6 in the latest Top 25, though the efficiency rankings don’t favor them. Illinois is 24th in KenPom’s rankings, though still 16th in offensive efficiency.
Their blowout wins certainly helped them in the metrics, but these last two efforts have given us a better read on how great this Illini team might be. They closed things out against Ohio before falling out of the game late against Baylor; can they really play 40 good minutes in Cameron Indoor?
On the home side, Duke (2-1) is still looking for their first big win of the season, having picked up their victories at home over Coppin State and Bellarmine in less than dominant efforts. The Blue Devils dropped last Tuesday’s showdown with Michigan State at home and getting a second shot at a Big Ten team might be that chance to assert themselves again.
As per usual, youth plays a big part on Duke’s roster, while it’s been sophomore Matthew Hurt (19.0 ppg, 8.7 rpg) who’s been leading the charge to this point. Freshman Jalen Johnson (13.0 ppg, 8.7 rpg) had a big 19-point, 19-rebound debut, while freshman guard DJ Stewart (11.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg) had a 24-point effort against Coppin State. There’s talent deep on this roster, though of course, they’re still learning to play with each other at the college level.
Duke’s currently at 6th in KenPom and 10th in the Top 25 polls. The Blue Devils sit 7th in defensive efficiency even while playing at a faster tempo than these Fighting Illini. It’s hard to get excited over what Duke had produced early, but just because they’ve dropped a tough game and haven’t blown the doors off anyone doesn’t mean this team won’t put it all together when it counts.
For the Illini, they’ll need to play a clean game with tough effort from beginning to end. They need Cockburn to avoid getting into early foul trouble like against the Bears last week. For the Blue Devils, they need to find a way to contain the Illinois guards while also avoiding long offensive droughts. Duke is still figuring out who to run the offense through with the departures of Tre Jones and others.
Next. Latest top-25 power rankings. dark
This is a rare early matchup of two teams with very high ceilings coming off recent losses on the national stage. Both teams want a big bounce-back effort in their second chances to prove themselves, and this game could easily go either way. There might be more talent on this Duke roster, but it’s hard not to like what Dosunmu and Cockburn bring for this Illini team. That being said, it’s hard to see the Blue Devils losing twice at home in the span of a week.