Preview: Wofford at No. 6 Duke

Preview: Wofford at No. 6 Duke

Blue Devils
come out of Kentucky loss with a few questions to answer

Duke coach Jon Scheyer points out a call to his team during Tuesday night’s game. (Photo by Dale Zanine/USA Today Sports Images)

The first big game of Duke’s season didn’t go the Blue Devils’ way.

They’re going to have more big ones, two of them sooner rather than later — just not immediately.

Duke plays host to Wofford on Saturday and is favored by 20 on KenPom over the Southern Conference team. The Terriers’ only win this season was against a Division II team.

This next one should be a get-right game for the Blue Devils before they head back into the gauntlet of their non-conference schedule.

“We’ve got a long season to go and I feel more optimistic tonight, losing, than I did even before” playing Kentucky on Tuesday night, coach Jon Scheyer said.

“Because you find out in this game the character of your team, the heart they have. And this team has got a lot of heart,” he added.

After Saturday’s game, three of Duke’s next four games are at Arizona, against Kansas in Las Vegas, and at home against Auburn in the ACC-SEC Challenge. And after playing host to Auburn, the Blue Devils play their ACC opener, which is at Louisville — hardly the pushover it’s been for the last two seasons and rejuvenated with a new coach and roster.

It’s a roundabout discussion to talk about Duke losing to Kentucky and how many of the Blue Devils’ issues down the stretch are solvable against how many of them cause a reevaluation of things.

Duke isn’t going to win many big games — or even games, for that matter — with one player making a field goal for the last 10 minutes. That was the burden for 17-year-old Cooper Flagg on Tuesday night; Mason Gillis had a tip-in with 10:51 left and for the rest of the game, non-Flagg Blue Devils shot a combined 0-for-8.

Duke also lost the edges it had in the first half, going from outscoring Kentucky 28-6 in the paint to the…

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Author : Devils Illustrated

Publish date : 2024-11-15 18:45:00

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