Game Day: Duke vs Illinois – Game Notes

ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE | TUE., DEC. 8, 2020 | CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM | DURHAM, NC | 9:30 PM

Record

Duke: 2-1
Illinois: 3-1

The Series 

Overall: Duke leads, 5-2
In Durham, N.C. (at Cameron Indoor): Duke trails, 0-1 (0-1)
In Champaign, Ill.: 0-0
Last Meeting: Duke, 79-66 (11/20/07 in Maui)
Coach K vs. Illinois: 5-2
Last 10 Games (Streak): Duke, 5-2 (Duke, 4W)

Where to Watch

Network: ESPN
Play-by-Play: Jon Sciambi
Analyst: Jay Bilas
Sideline —
Producer: Jeff Duffine
Stream: WatchESPN

Where to Listen

Play-by-Play: David Shumate
Analyst: John Roth
Engineer: John Rose
Stream: GoDuke.com; TuneIn app
Sirius/XM : 137/193

In the second AP top-10 matchup in a week at Cameron Indoor Stadium, No. 10 Duke welcomes No. 6 Illinois in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge presented by Continental on Tuesday night. The Blue Devils have won 19 of the 21 games in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge since the event began 21 years ago, marking the most wins and best winning percentage of teams from either conference.

Last season, Duke won at Michigan State, 87-75, for its eighth consecutive victory in the Challenge. Duke and Illinois met in each of the first two seasons of the Challenge — with the Blue Devils winning 72-69 in 1999 at the United Center in Chicago and 78-77 in 2000 at the Greensboro Coliseum. Duke leads the overall series with Illinois, 5-2, but the teams have not met since the Maui Invitational semis in 2007 — a 79-66 Duke win.

Illinois:
llinois comes into Tuesday at 3-1, the Blue Devils will be their second top-10 matchup the first being their only loss to #2 Baylor (69-82). The Illini come into Tuesday 4th in overall rebounding in the nation and are shooting 45% from 3 point range so far this season.

Ayo Dosunmu leads the team in scoring at 23.8 per game, he also leads the team in assists at 6.3 per game, he also pulls down 7 rebounds per game in the early season so far. Sophomore Kofi Cockburn is the leading rebounder on the team at just under 10 a game (9.8), Cockburn also averages 23 points per game.

Duke:
Duke bounced back from a 6 point loss to Michigan State to beat Bellarmine 76-54. Duke is currently 2-1 and looking for consistency on the offensive end after averaging 17 turnovers in the first 3 games of the season. Some brights spots for Duke are the play of Matthew Hurt and Jaemyn Brakefield. Brakefield has come off the bench in each of Duke’s last two games to set career highs in scoring and rebounding. He scored 11 with four rebounds in 15 minutes against Michigan State and went for 12 and six in 16 minutes against Bellarmine. Matthew Hurt leads the Blue Devils in scoring at 19ppg, he is also Duke’s leading rebounder at 8.7 per game, tied with freshman Jalen Johnson who is also averaging 8.7 boards to go along with his 13 points per game.

Analysis:
The Illini continues to play through 7’0 sophomore big man Kofi Cockburn, not only is he a load offensively but he gets his guards open for shots as well as driving lanes. Ball pressure from Duke’s guards is going to be huge part of this game, forcing the Illini’s primary ball handlers to give up the ball is important as well. Duke defensively will have to be disciplined on dribble hand-offs, pick and rolls and ball screens.

On the offensive end, Duke has to take good shots, bad 3’s and turnovers that allow Illinois to get out into transition is recipe for disaster for the Blue Devils. Discipline and motion are going to be areas of focus for the Blue Devil. It’s imperative for the Blue Devils to clean up the mistakes on the offensive ends in terms of turnovers and hustle back in transition. This game will also be a similarly physical matchup to the Michigan State game, Duke once again cannot play young and have to finish plays physically on offense as well as be prepared for physicality on defense as well.