A cold shooting night on the perimeter proves to be Duke's downfall
The Blue Devils shot an abysmal 17.4 percent from 3-point range in their loss to the Wildcats. They knocked down just four 3-pointers as a team on Tuesday night in the Champions Classic with Kon Knueppel seeing the worst on the night.
Knueppel just couldn't seem to see the ball go in from behind the perimeter, shooting 1-of-8 (12.5 percent) from deep in his worst outing on the early season. He shot a lot of good shots from deep but his performance was a blemish on a night that saw them dominate the painted area.
It was a long way away from their 44.7 percent shooting performance against Army on Nov. 8 which saw them knock down 17 of their 38 attempts from deep. But, as the saying goes: "Live by the three, die by three." In this case, the Blue Devils seemed to go away from the 3-ball.
They came into the game averaging 33.5 3-pointers per game in their two victories over Maine and Army. Their 23 attempts on Tuesday night were well below their average and should be something to focus on heading into their next game against Wofford on Saturday.