Miami at Duke: 2021-22 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
The best team in the ACC in the Duke Blue Devils faces the league’s best record in the Miami Hurricanes. Who will get the important win?
TV schedule: Saturday, January 8th, 8:00 pm ET. ACC Network
Arena: Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina
The ACC has been struggling overall, with some saying that the league could get as few as 2-3 bids for the 2022 NCAA Tournament. That’s due to several teams, such as North Carolina, Florida State, and Virginia currently underachieving. The one team that hasn’t been playing under expectations is Duke (12-1, 2-0), who is riding a five-game win streak.
The latest victory came this week against Georgia Tech at home, where they led all the way to a 69-57 victory. Freshman star Paolo Banchero had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while also going 9/16 from the free throw line. Big man Mark Williams produced 10 points and 14 rebounds, while AJ Griffin had 12 points in 23 minutes off the bench.
It feels as if the Blue Devils are on autopilot as the clear favorite to win the ACC regular-season championship for the first time in a decade. Yet they’re actually not on top of the standings right now, as there are a pair of teams currently at 4-0 in league play. One of them is Miami (12-3, 4-0) who started out the season at 4-3 but has since won eight straight games. Four of them were against ACC opponents, Clemson, Wake Forest, NC State, and Syracuse, with the last three having at least 88 points scored.
The Hurricanes were down 14 points at the half to the Orange but a 58-point second-half effort allowed them to retake the lead and hold onto the one-point win at the end. Charlie Moore had 25 points and six assists to lead the way, while breakout star Kameron McGusty (18.3 ppg on the season) had 19 on 8/15 shooting. While the Hurricanes don’t have the greatest defense, the backcourt trio of McGusty, Moore, and Isaiah Wong has been one of the best in the country.
It’ll be that set of guards versus Duke’s elite frontcourt of Banchero, Williams, and Griffin, backed up by Marquette transfer Thoe John. Sam Waardenburg came back from injury to score seven points in 29 minutes off the bench for Miami and is the only legit size they have in the rotation. That won’t be enough against Duke who has a 7’0 center in Williams and a star in Banchero starting in the frontcourt.
Next. Latest ACC power rankings. dark
As long as the Blue Devils’ guards don’t allow Miami to make too many three-pointers, this one shouldn’t be too much of a struggle. The score will be high but ultimately not in doubt.
Prediction: Duke 92, Miami 77