Louisville at Duke preview

Louisville Cardinals (4-23, 2-14) at Duke Blue Devils (19-8, 10-6)

Game Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium: Durham, N.C.

Television: ESPN

Announcers: Dave O’Brien (play-by-play), Cory Alexander (analyst) and Andraya Carter

Favorite: Duke by 18

Series: Duke leads, 12-9

Last Meeting: Duke won 74-65 on Jan. 29, 2022 in Louisville

Series History:

Projected Starting Lineups:

Louisville

• G El Ellis (6-3, 180, Sr.)
• G/F Mike James (6-5, 215, R-Fr.)
• F J.J. Traynor (6-8, 190, Jr.)
• F Jae’Lyn Withers (6-9, 220, R-Jr.)
• F Sydney Curry (6-8, 270, Sr.)

Duke

• G Jeremy Roach (6-2, 180, Jr.)
• G Tyrese Proctor (6-5, 175, Fr.)
• F Mark Mitchell (6-8, 220, Fr.)
• C Kyle Filipowski (7-0, 230, Fr.)
• C Dereck Lively II (7-1, 230, Fr.)

Statistics:

Relevant Videos:

About Duke:

Duke’s first season in the post-Mike Krzyzewski era has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Jon Scheyer currently has the Blue Devils sitting at 19-8 overall, 10-6 in the ACC and riding a two-game winning streak. They currently sit at No. 26 in the NET Rankings, but are just 2-6 in Quad 1 games.

The Devils are led by Kyle Filipowski, a seven-time ACC Rookie of the Week, who leads all conference freshmen in rebounding and double-doubles. His 12 double-doubles are the most by any freshman nationally, while his 9.2 rebounds lead all power conference freshmen.

Highly-touted fellow freshman Dariq Whitehead has been stellar as of late. Since returning three games ago from an injury, Whitehead is averaging 11.0 points, shooting 12-of-21 (.571) from the field and 9-of-14 (.643) from three-point range in that span. He is Duke’s best from three-point range both overall (.419) and in ACC play (.490).

Unlike some of the familiar teams of Duke’s recent past, this Blue Devil squad plays at one of the slowest paces in the country and wins primarily with defense and rebounding. The ACC’s best rebounding team, Duke is averaging 39.4 boards and has out-rebounded 22 opponents (18-4 in those game). The Blue Devils are also second in the ACC and 33rd nationally in scoring defense, yielding just 64.0 points per game. Nineteen teams have been held to less than 70 against Duke, and 10 have failed to score more than 60.

Notable:

—Louisville is 3-3 all-time in road games against Duke and has won its last two games at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

—Duke’s Jon Scheyer and Louisville’s Kenny Payne are two of the three active head coaches to win a national championship as both a player and coach. Austin Peay’s Nate James (a former Duke player and assistant) is the other.

—Louisville’s 23 losses this season have already broken the school record for most losses in a season. The previous high was 20 in 1997-98.

—Louisville is the only program in college basketball that played at least 10 games against Mike Krzyzewski and owned a winning record (9-8) against the now retired Hall of Famer.

—Louisville assistant Nolan Smith was an All-American player at Duke and was an assistant on the Blue Devil staff last season.

—Duke has held 23 of its 27 opponents this season below their season average.

—The Blue Devils are second in the conference in scoring defense (64.0), second in three-point field goal defense (.304) and third in field goal defense (.413).

—Louisville has lost four games by 1-point this season. That’s the most in U of L history and tied for the most ever by an ACC team. The Cardinals are 0-6 in one possession games.

—Louisville has already lost nine games by 20 points or more this season, the 20-point losses in one season in the history of Cardinal basketball.

—Duke is 21-13 when playing on Feb. 20 and has won nine of the last 13 on this date.

—Louisville defeated Duke 71-64 at the KFC Yum Center on this date in 2016.

—Duke’s Kyle Filipowski, the seven-time ACC Rookie of the Week, leads all conference freshmen in rebounding and double-doubles. His 12 double-doubles are the most by any freshman nationally, while his 9.2 rebounds lead all power conference freshmen.

—At 15.1 points, Filipowski is the nation’s only freshman — and one of just nine power conference players overall — averaging at least 15 points and nine rebounds this season.

—Nine of the last 11 games in this series have been decided by single digits.

—Louisville beat Duke 72-69 in the 1986 NCAA Championship game behind Final Four Most Outstanding Player Pervis Ellison’s 25 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.

—Duke is 13-9 all-time in ESPN’s Big Monday game

—The ACC’s best rebounding team, Duke is averaging 39.4 boards and has out-rebounded 22 opponents (18-4 in those game). Duke is 14-4 when leading in offensive rebounding.

—Louisville is 219-14 over the last 20 seasons and 16-2 over the last three when scoring 80 points or more. The Cards have eclipsed the 80-point mark just three times this season, but twice in their last three games.

—Louisville is 14-0 over the past 10 seasons when limiting opponents to no more than one three-point field goal.

—Since 2004, Louisville is 128-0 when leading by more than 10 points at halftime.

—Louisville has won 162 consecutive games when holding an opponent under 50 points.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Duke 78, Louisville 59