Notre Dame Basketball: 3 keys to upsetting Duke Blue Devils at home

Dec 20, 2021; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish starters (left to right) guard Blake Wesley (0) forward Nate Laszewski (14) guard Prentiss Hubb (3) guard Dane Goodwin (23) and forward Paul Atkinson Jr. (20) take the court for the game against the Western Michigan Broncos at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /

2 of 4

Virginia Cavaliers forward Kadin Shedrick Notre Dame Basketball forward Nate Laszewski Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports /

Limit second and third chance opportunities for Duke

Notre Dame is going to be going up a bigger front court on Monday night and is really going to need to hit the boards hard. Mike Brey and the rest of the coaching staff need to just keep telling the players they need to really crash the boards all night long.

The Irish have done well this year battling on the glass and being aggressive for the most part, but against Virginia, over the weekend they were out-rebounded by 13. It was enough to come away with a victory then, but against Duke, they will need for it to be a whole lot better as a unit.

No offense to Virginia, but the Duke offensive playmakers are just much better. The Blue Devils play more bodies regularly compared to Notre Dame, so the more you can do to limit their trips to being one and done and not giving them multiple attempts the better chance you have of pulling off the upset in the end. Duke is a top ten team in the country for a reason and you cannot give them multiple attempts all game long because they will make it pay against you if given second and third chances on a single possession.

It should be very interesting though to see the chess match when it comes to the lineups. Will Duke still play big if Notre Dame goes to a smaller lineup with four guards surrounded by one of their bigs? Guess we will have to wait and see on Monday night.

Home/Notre Dame Fighting Irish