Preview: Duke Blue Devils (6-2) vs Louisville Cardinals (5-3)

Duke Blue Devils (6-2, 0-0 ACC) vs Louisville Cardinals (5-3, 0-0 ACC)

Sunday, Dec. 8 • 6:00 p.m. ET

KFC Yum! Center • Louisville, KY

TV: ACCN

Radio: Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD

The Blue Devils face their first ACC opponent on Sunday in the new-look Louisville Cardinals on the road at the KFC YUM! Center.

TV/Video Stream
ACC Network
Play-by-Play Matt Schumacker
Analyst Jon Crispin
Producer Bobby Blankenship
Director Kevin Hulsman

Radio
Blue Devil Sports Net.
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
In Durham 96.5 FM & 620 AM
SiriusXM 211 or 193

Overall Duke leads, 15-9
In Durham, NC Duke leads, 5-3
at Cameron Indoor Stadium Duke leads, 5-3
In Louisville, KY Duke leads, 5-4
at KFC Yum! Center Duke leads, 4-3
Neutral Sites Duke leads, 5-2
Last Meeting @Duke 84, Louisville 59 (Feb. 28, 2024)

Louisville, in year one of the Pat Kelsey era, has made significant strides toward bringing the Cardinals back to relevance in the ACC and nationally. Boasting a 5-3 record with wins over a ranked Indiana team and West Virginia in their first 8 games, Kelsey has secured more victories for Louisville than either of the prior 2 seasons.

Louisville is 8th in the nation at 3-point attempts, but they have not shot a good percentage, checking in at just 27.3Q% as a team. They are top 40 in offensive rebounding with 13.8 per game this season. They are 12th in the nation in 2-point field goal percentage at 60.5%.

The Cardinals are led by senior transfer guard Chucky Hepburn, who spent 3 years as a Wisconsin Badger. Hepburn is having his best year in terms of scoring so far this season, averaging 15.1 points per game. The former Badger is shooting it at 72% from inside the arc. Hepburn has also shined on the defensive end, averaging 3.5 steals per game. Senior Reyne Smith is the Cardinal’s best threat from beyond the arc, hitting at 39% so far on the season on 9 attempts per game. The College of Charleston is averaging 12.5 points per game, good for second-best on Louisville. Louisville will be without their 3rd leading scorer for the rest of this season as Kasean Pryor was diagnosed with a torn ACL last week. Pryor had been averaging 12 points and 6 rebounds per game before the injury. James Madison transfer Terrence Edwards rounds out the double-figure scores for the Cardinals entering Sunday at 10.8 points per game and 2.4 assists.

*Louisville will be without significant contributor and double-figure scorer Keseaon Pryor, who is out for the season after tearing his ACL against the Oklahoma Sooners last week.

The Blue Devils enter Sunday with a record of 6-2. Duke’s combined margin from their losses is 8 points – against 2 top-10 teams. They are coming off of a big home victory against number 2 Auburn. A game that saw the Blue Devils come back from an early 13-2 deficit to pick up the victory 84-78 against the undefeated Tigers.

Freshman Cooper Flagg leads the Blue Devils in scoring (16.6), rebounds (8.8), and assists 4.1. Kon Knueppel, another freshman, adds 12.5 points per game and 3.3 assists. Tyrese Proctor has been Duke’s best shooter from distance at 46% on the season; he’s scoring the basketball at a 12.4 point per game clip. The Blue Devils have the number 1 Adjusted Defensive Efficiency according to KenPom and a top-10 offense.

PG Sion James 6’6, 220lbs – Grad Transfer
SG Tyrese Proctor 6’6, 183lbs – Junior
SF Kon Knueppel 6’7, 217lbs – Freshman
PF Cooper Flagg 6’9, 205lbs – Freshman
C Khaman Maluach 7’2, 250lbs – Freshman

G Chucky Hepburn 6’2, 190lbs – Senior
G Reyne Smith 6’2, 190lbs – Senior
G J’Vonne Hadley 6’6, 215lbs – 5th Year Senior
F Terrence Edwards Jr. 6’6, 205lbs – 5th Year Senior
F Noah Waterman 6’11, 230lbs – 6th Year

Louisville is a much improved team, and judging them by their loss to Ole Miss is a mistake. That game was on the heals of them losing one of their most dynamic players, Kasean Pryor, who did a lot of good things in Kelsey’s offense and his defense. I expect a much better showing for the Cardinals now that they’ve had time to adjust. This will be a more difficult team to scout for Duke with no real tape on how the Cardinals will look post-Pryor. What they do know is that Chucky Hepburn may be the best pure point guard in the ACC. He’s a handful on both ends of the floor.

Chucky Hepburn’s defensive prowess is something that can fuel the offense for Louisville. Duke is going to have to take care of the basketball – they’ve shown they can do that. Guarding the perimeter is also going to be important against Louisville. I’ve been impressed with how the Ville pass the ball perimeter passing off of Hepburn penetration are huge drivers of their offense. He’s a wizard with the ball and really controls the game for Pat Kelsey’s team, be it through scoring, drawing fouls or assisting on buckets for others. Louisville may not shoot a high percentage, but they are more than capable of getting hot, especially at home.

The Cardinals do a fantastic job of cutting without the basketball and making themselves superb targets, and it’s not just their guards that pass the ball well – their bigs do as well. They will definitely attempt to take advantage of Duke’s younger players. Duke has occasionally been susceptible to backdoor cuts; it will more than likely be a point of emphasis with Jai Lucas’ defensive strategy. The hope is that Duke’s length can cover up for some of that inexperience.