Duke (18-3, 6-3)

Notre Dame (13-8, 3-5)

When: Jan. 29| 7:00 PM (ET)
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium - Durham, NC

Watch Live: ESPN

Both Duke and Notre Dame enter Monday night looking to right their perspective ships. Duke coming off of a rare home loss to the number 2 ranked Virginia Cavaliers in a very competitive game and Notre Dame coming in having lost 5 in a row. A shorthanded Irish team has been playing without leading score and rebounder Bonzie Colson and without lead assist man Matt Farrell. Losing their 2 senior leaders have made the Irish particularly vulnerable in ACC play, but to the teams credit they have kept each game competitive and close. A win at Cameron would go a long way towards a good resume heading into the post season. Currently heaped in the middle of the pack in the ACC, there is still time left for Notre Dame to make a mark this season. The Irish will lean heavily on sophomore guard Temple Gibbs to handle the scoring load. Gibbs is averaging 15.4 points and 3.3 assists per game. Martinas Geben has shouldered the scoring load along with Gibbs and is not averaging 12.3 points a game in conference play.

Duke is led by freshman sensation Marvin Bagley III, who leads Duke and the ACC in points and rebounds at 22 and 11.6 a game. Bagley's frontcout companion, Wendell Carter Jr. is averaging 14.3 and 9.4 rebounds per game. Duke has been sorely lacking in backcourt production as of late and is in dire need of help for their 2 bigs. Grayson Allen has shown flashes but still isn't playing offensively at a high enough level for this team to be successful. Gary Trent Jr. has been playing well as of late but failed as did all of the Duke guards to reach double figures in scoring. As a unit against Virginia they managed only 19 points and 10 turnovers.

Duke has to continue to improve defensively as they have over the past several games. Playing a mix of man-to-man and zone has been beneficial for Duke and allowed the starters, who are playing heavy minutes, to rest. Offensively, it's very simple as mentioned earlier, Duke needs better guard play. It's unfair just to blame anything on the play of Trevon Duval when there is plenty of blame to go around. There is plenty of time to right the ship, Coach K alluded to this regular season and ACC season as the training ground for March.

As a team Notre Dame is not shooting well from 3 point range (33% in conference play) but as we've seen that can change very quickly against Duke. This is a game where Duke needs to step on the gas early and limit mistakes that can lead to Notre Dame confidence. Duke is going to get the best shot from the Irish and with Brey as their coach anything is possible.

Projected Starting Lineups:

Duke:

F Marvin Bagley III
F Wendell Carter Jr.
G Gary Trent Jr.
G Grayson Allen
G Trevon Duval

Notre Dame:

F Martinas Geben
F John Mooney
G Rex Pflueger
G Temple Gibbs
G Nikola Djogo

• Duke and Notre Dame continue ESPN’s Big Monday schedule when the ACC rivals meet at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the 30th time.
  
  
• The Blue Devils are 22-7 all-time versus the Fighting Irish and have won two straight, including a 75-69 win in last season’s ACC Tournament championship game in Brooklyn.
  
  
• Duke is the only team ranked among the NCAA’s top 10 in scoring (90.3; t-1st), rebounds (43.1; 2nd) and assists (19.0; 3rd). The Blue Devils are also fourth nationally in rebound margin (+10.5), ninth in field goal percentage (.509), and eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6).
  
  
• Marvin Bagley III leads the ACC in scoring (22.0) and rebounding (11.6) and is second in the NCAA in double-doubles (17). Trevon Duval leads the ACC in assists (6.1), while Grayson Allen is third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.53) and Gary Trent, Jr., is fourth in the ACC in three-point field goal percentage (.422).
• Bagley is one of just two players nationally averaging 20.0+ points and 10.0+ rebounds and the only player nationally averaging 22.0+ and 11.0+.
  
  
• Trent, last week’s ACC Rookie (and co-Player) of the Week, has reached double figures in 10 of the last 11 games, including a career-high 30 at Miami. He is 39 for his last 77 from three-point range (.506).
  
  
• Freshman Wendell Carter, Jr., has 10 double-doubles this season, including one in two straight and four of his last