Duke Basketball: 3 keys to beating Texas Tech Red Raiders in Sweet 16

1. Jeremy Roach steps up (again)

Jeremy Roach has been impressive in the month of March for the Duke Blue Devils. He stepped up in a big way in the Blue Devils’ victory over Michigan State. His 15 points while shooting 6-of-10 from the field this past weekend couldn’t have come at a more opportune time for Duke.

He’ll look to apply similar pressure on a long and wiry Red Raiders defense that will certainly look to slow him down. There was no slowing Roach down in the second half against the Spartans as he put up 13 of his 15 points in the second half to surge the Blue Devils to victory.

Roach has upped his game in the NCAA Tournament, as his numbers have shown. He’s posting 13.5 ppg, 4.0 apg, and 1.5 rpg while shooting 50 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from behind the arc through their first two victories.

He’ll need to step up against a tougher Texas Tech defense that will look to give them all they can handle on Thursday night. While he’s faced a lot of criticism for his style of play, he’s been huge for the Blue Devils down the stretch when they’ve needed a spark.