Duke vs Iowa: 2022 Jimmy V Classic basketball game preview, TV schedule
Iowa has a National Player of the Year candidate in Kris Murray on a big stage against Duke in the Jimmy V Classic. Can he and the Hawkeyes get the victory?
TV schedule: Tuesday, December 6th, 9:30 pm ET (approx), ESPN
Arena: Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York
It can be hard to gauge how good a team is after just one month into the season. It can be even harder when looking at a team like Duke (8-2), who are still bringing along a pair of five-star freshmen after preseason injuries. The good news is that both Dereck Lively and Dariq Whitehead are back and in the rotation, though both are still ways to go before being impact players.
So far, Kyle Filipowski (15.2 ppg and 9.3 rpg) and Jeremy Roach (12.2 ppg and 3.6 apg) have been the top players for the Blue Devils. Filipowski shined in the team’s ACC opening win over Boston College, going for 13 points and 10 rebounds in the 75-59 victory. Freshman Mark Mitchell led the team with 15 points, with Jacob Grandison coming off the bench with 10.
Duke will continue to get better but lost its two toughest games this season in Kansas and Purdue. And now they have another good opponent in Iowa (6-1). Their most notable wins were over TCU and Clemson in the Emerald Classic, coming off an 81-65 victory over Georgia Tech a week ago.
Kris Murray had a career-high 31 points and 20 rebounds to lead the Hawkeyes against the Yellow Jackets and has looked just as good as his brother, Keegan Murray last year. On the season, the junior forward is averaging 21.0 ppg and 10.6 rpg and is the current favorite to win Big Ten Player of the Year. Iowa does have a solid supporting cast around him, with Tony Perkins, Patrick McCaffery and Filip Rebraca all averaging double figures as well.
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The key in this game on both sides is how the smaller Hawkeyes deal with the length and size of Duke’s frontcourt, while the Blue Devils need all hands on deck to deal with Murray defensively. And the guards, which collectively have been inconsistent overall for Duke, needs to have a big game in what could end up as a shootout. I think the ACC team has a little more overall and should be able to withstand a big game from Murray.
Prediction: Duke 78, Iowa 70