📍 Cameron indoor
📺 espn
⏰ 7:00

We welcome the deacons to Cameron on senior night.. my guess is we put another drubbing on an ACC team. This would however really help Wakes case to get into the tourney.. we are currently a 20.5 point favorite


Duke- 102
Wake-67

It would really hurt after this stellar season to let UNC ruin our standing alone as Regular Season Champions.

We need to win this game in as convincing a fashion as our last games and shut out this season.

A Carolina spoiler would really wound me to the core.

If you can remember how long have you been posting here on the D.I. board? I've been here since 2006. I remember it because we were recruiting Lance Thomas and a lot of people were discussing him because he committed so late. OFC

Preview for this one will be up in a few hours.

In the meantime ...

Here's the story from the first time they played, should you need a refresher.

Programming note: I'll be there with full coverage.

Predictions:

I want to hear yours!

I’m not saying it’ll happen but the idea he doesn’t have options is absurd

Look for @ConorONeill (Duke Rivals Editor), who also writes for the Wake Forest publication this afternoon. You can tune in around 5:30 and catch Conor talk Duke-Wake with Mark Packer on "ACC PM" on the ACC NETWORK. Conor always tells it like it is, and is a genuinely nice person.

OFC

📍 Cameron indoor
⏰ 7:00
📺 ACCN

We welcome Coach Hamilton in which will likely be the last time we face him. I like the guy but hope we send him back to Florida with a record loss.. we are a 24.5 point favorite over the 16 win seminoles

Duke-112
FSU- 63

Welcome to March!

Well ... almost. Typing in that tomorrow's game is a March game got me excited on the last day of February.

Preview for Duke's game will be up later today.

Programming note: I'll be at this game with full coverage -- and after missing Duke's last 3 games, we've hit the point of the calendar where I say Duke won't play another game without me being there.

In lieu of a preview being done right now ... podcast recorded earlier this week with JJ:

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📍 coral gables
📺 espn
⏰ 7:00

We enter Miami as a 22.5 point favorite with soon to be hurricane head coach Jai Lucas on our bench.. hopefully he’s not a spy for this one either way we win in a rout over this 6 win squad

Duke- 102
Miami-62

Preview will be up later today.

Programming: I'll be remote covering this one from home.

Early link for content: I was on a podcast this morning with Miami's Rivals publisher talking mostly Jai Lucas, and some about the matchup:

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📍 MSG
📺 fox
⏰ 8:00

I’m pretty excited about this non conference game in Cameron north.. we are currently a 8.5 point favorite over the 17-10 Illini who have been struggling as of late. Let’s hope for a good showing against a solid opponent on a national stage

Duke-82
Illinois- 68

I believe every poster on this board understands Maliq is needed to get to the Final Four. This team is awesome, however, the need for Maliq's experience and toughness is essential.

Kicking off this thread with a profile on Bryce Davis.

As discussed on the free board a couple of weeks ago, he's the one to watch in Duke's '25 class. Would be a massive sign for the direction of the program to lure Greensboro's next stud DL out of the clutches of the usual suspects (UGA, Clemson, UNC).

Preview for this game isn't quite done yet.

But a separate story: On Maliq Brown's status moving forward.

Programming note (while I'm thinking of it): I'll have our NYC stringer, Michael Lewis, at this one.

I know some of us follow Kenpom so I think we need a running thread in our levels there as it’s been historically a good indicator of March success-

After our “bad D game” and all Saturday games we are sitting at

2 overall 7 on offense and 2 on defense

Auburn is still somehow 1 with 1 on offense and 17 on defense

Houston, Iowa state and Florida round out the top 5

The next closest ACC team is Pitt at 27 followed by Clemson at 29 and UNC at 30

Illinois will give us the opportunity for a nice win coming in at 12

Bored as hell after scooping the driveway so I tuned into the UNCheat vs UVA game (accidentally). I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a team flop into more BS calls as those queers do. Seriously, unwatchable!

Living in Illinois I have a lot of friends who root for the Illini, some of them are my best friends. Illinois plays a rotation of 8 guys now due to Johnson being out indefinitely with a broken wrist. The Illini are a young team with only having 2 upperclassmen in their rotation. The Illini are a live by the 3 and die by the 3 team this season with a handful of their players shooting between 33-35% on the season from 3 point land (Jakucionis, Tomislav Ivisic, Riley, Humrichous, and Davis). The Illini are Led by Projected Top 5 NBA Draft Pick Jakucionis, when he plays poor then the rest of the team plays poor. Boswell, a junior this season, who played for Arizona last season is the only player familiar with the Blue Devils.

I think this is how Duke will match up with Illinois on Saturday night,

Boswell - James
Jakucionis - Proctor
Riley - Knueppel
Humrichous - Flagg
Tomislav Ivisic - Maluach

Illinois' Reserves:

White - Guard
Gibbs-Lawhorn - Guard
Davis - Forward

I think we will witness Duke's Coaching Staff make it an Emphasis to shut down the Illini's 3 point shooting and they will force the Illini to try and score on them inside the paint. As long as Proctor and James do a great job in shutting down Jakucionis and Duke Succeeds in shutting down the Illini's 3 point shooting prowess I see Duke winning by at least 15 points. Illinois is not a team that makes comebacks, Duke HAS to defend the 3 point line very well on Saturday Night! If the Illini are cold early and Duke gets out to a fast start, this game will become a blow out and a long night for Illini fans as for some odd reason, Illinois tends to continue letting it fly from 3 even when they cannot shoot the ball into an ocean.

Great Opportunity to finish a tough non-conference game schedule in the regular season with a 3-2 record. A lot of Duke Fans should be present in NYC on Saturday Night.

Let's Go Duke!

📍 John Paul jones
📺 espn
⏰ 8:00

Duke heads north to play the feared defense of the Whooo cavaliers of Virginia.. jk they kinda suck this year, they are 13-12 and gotten blowout by every good team they’ve played. I expect the same

Duke-88
UVA-60

Watched on HBO Max. Was about how the US select team beat the 92 dream team. Really good stuff. Duke guys doing their thing.

As ace flagg and Greensboro day beats Isaiah Dennis and Davidson day 45-39

GTHC GTH

Game preview can be found here.

Programming: I'll have remote coverage of this one. I kind of wish I was going ... but UVA has been terrible and since I don't stay overnight at these places, I don't want to be driving 3-plus hours back that late.

Predictions:

- Tyrese Proctor keeps his hot hand going, with 18 points or more.

- This is the one: Cooper Flagg gets a triple-double.

- Khaman Maluach catches another 4 lobs and has double-digit points.

- Isaac McKneely scores at least 18 points but takes more than 10 3-pointers.

Duke as the 3rd number 1 seed with Tennessee the highest #2 seed

How does Florida, the worst number 1 seed

Get rewarded with the worst 2 seed? While auburn gets the second best 2 seed either way the 1 overall? Make it make sense

📍 Cameron indoor
⏰ 4:00
📺 ABC

We welcome mediocre Stanford to Cameron to give us a back to back California homestead. Stanford is 16-9 with exactly 0 impressive wins on the season unless you could Blake’s beating UNC which was fun. We are currently a 19.5 point favorite

Duke-87
Tree mascot- 66