Preview: #9 Duke Blue Devils (16-5, 7-3 ACC) vs. Notre Dame (7-15, 2-9 ACC)
The Blue Devils begin a 3-game homestand beginning with Notre Dame.
Wednesday, Feb. 7 • 9:00 p.m. ET
Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) • Durham, NC
Series & Game Info
Overall Duke leads, 30-8
In Durham, NC Duke leads, 10-2
at Cameron Indoor Stadium Duke leads, 10-2
In South Bend, IN Duke leads, 9-4
at Purcell Pavilion Duke leads, 9-4
Neutral Sites Duke leads, 11-2
Last Meeting Duke 67, @Notre Dame 59 (Jan. 6, 2024)
TV/Video Stream ACCN
Play-by-Play Wes Durham
Analyst Cory Alexander
Analyst Jim Boeheim
Producer Alex Farmartino
Radio Blue Devil Sports Net.
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
In Durham 96.5 FM & 620 AM
SiriusXM 162 or 193
First Meeting
The Blue Devils took the first game against the Irish 67-59 but struggled offensively. The Blue Devils shot just 35.6% for the game and only 30.8% from 3. Mark Mitchell led the Blue Devils in scoring with 23 points on 8-12 shooting. Mitchell was perfect from the 3pt line, going 2-2 and perfect from the free throw line shooting 5 of 5. Mitchell also grabbed 14 rebounds. The Blue Devils surrendered 11 offensive rebounds leading to 14 second chance points for the Irish.
The Teams
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Losers of 6 straight, the Irish are looking to right the ship against Duke in Cameron Indoor. Notre Dame enters Wednesday night at 7-15 with a 2-9 record in the ACC.
The year one Coach Shrewsberry stamp on the program has been the defensive intensity from his young Irish squad. 11 games and 8 different ACC opponents – all held under their season averages in every single contest, with Miami and Duke being held to season lows at that point in time.
One of Notre Dame’s greatest strengths this season has been its rebounding. In ACC play, the Irish rank 2nd in rebounding (37.4) and 3rd in rebound margin (+3.6). J.R. Konieczny (4) and Tae Davis (3) have combined for 7 double-doubles on the year. Konieczny and Njie co-lead the team in rebounding (5.7).
Point guard Markus Burton is one of the top freshmen in the country. His 16.0 ppg leads all ACC freshmen and tops the Irish, he also averages 4.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Burton picked up his 5th game of 20 or more points against Florida State on Jan. 13. The following is a list of the most 20-point games by an Irish freshman.
Duke Blue Devils
The Blue Devils as of Wednesday are 16-5 on the season and 7-3 in the ACC. Duke ranks 13th nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.65) and 14th in fewest turnovers (9.5 per game). Duke is second in the conference in 3-point percentage at 39.1%.
Kyle Filipowski ranks sixth in scoring (17.7 ppg), fifth in rebounding (8.5 rpg), third in blocked shots (1.8 bpg) and fifth in field goal percentage (.506). Jeremy Roach ranks second in the ACC and 24th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (3.05), while Tyrese Proctor is positioned fourth in the conference and 37th nationally (2.83). In Roach’s last 12 games, the senior guard has distributed 39 assists with 10 turnovers (3.9 assist/turnover ratio). Proctor has scored at least 10 points in five of Duke’s last six games, averaging 14.0 points across that stretch, including a career-high 24 points at Louisville (Jan. 23). After averaging 7.6 points per outing in the first eight games of the season, Jared McCain has reached the 20-point mark in six of the last 13 games, including 23 points and 11 rebounds at No. 3 North Carolina on Saturday, to average 16.1 points per contest during that stretch.
Stats Comparison
| G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 21 | 40.0 | 28.7 | 59.4 | .484 | 20.5 | 37.9 | .541 | 8.2 | 21.5 | .381 | 15.5 | 21.1 | .736 | 9.5 | 26.3 | 35.8 | 15.6 | 6.6 | 3.9 | 9.5 | 16.0 | 81.1 |
| Notre Dame | 22 | 40.7 | 22.0 | 54.9 | .401 | 14.7 | 30.7 | .478 | 7.3 | 24.1 | .303 | 10.6 | 14.6 | .724 | 10.0 | 26.5 | 36.5 | 9.6 | 6.0 | 2.6 | 13.7 | 14.9 | 61.9 |
Stats Comparison (CONFERENCE)
| G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 10 | 40.0 | 27.2 | 58.7 | .463 | 18.8 | 37.2 | .505 | 8.4 | 21.5 | .391 | 14.4 | 20.0 | .720 | 8.2 | 24.7 | 32.9 | 13.7 | 6.3 | 4.0 | 9.6 | 16.2 | 77.2 |
| Notre Dame | 11 | 40.5 | 21.5 | 54.1 | .397 | 13.6 | 30.5 | .448 | 7.8 | 23.6 | .331 | 9.3 | 12.9 | .718 | 8.5 | 25.8 | 34.3 | 9.3 | 6.1 | 2.4 | 12.9 | 14.3 | 60.0 |
Projected Lineup
Duke Blue Devils
G Jeremy Roach 6’2, 180lbs SR
G Jared McCain 6’3, 197lbs FR
G Tyrese Proctor 6’5, 183lbs SO
F Mark Mitchell 6’9, 232lbs SO
C Kyle Filipowski 7’0, 248lbs SO
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
G Markus Burton 5’11, 166lbs, FR
G J.R. Konieczny 6’7, 204lbs JR
F Tae Davis 6’9, 208lbs SO
F Kebab Njie 6’10, 254lbs SO
F Carey Booth 6’10, 203lbs FR
Thoughts
The Blue Devils held freshman Markus Burton in check in the first game holding the vaunted freshmen to 18 points on 21 shots. Where the Blue Devils struggled was rebounding and securing the defensive exchanges. This is where Duke can take the game over if they exert a much more concerted effort in this area. Duke also needs, on the offensive end, to get a better effort out of Kyle Filipowski – there’s no rule that says is Mark Mitchell is having a good game like he did in the first Notre Dame game that Filipowski can’t also have a good game. With the margin for error so small for this young Duke team max effort and max output is needed from all 5 starters and the bench. As seen in the North Carolina game, talent is only going to take this team so far as they lacked the hunger, drive and desperation to put themselves on top of the ACC given the change.
