Timing wasn't on my side, so there won't be a full-fledged preview for this game. Nobody's fault but my own -- and Wake football deciding today was a good day for 18 breaking stories (it felt like). Anyway ...
Programming for tomorrow's game: I'll have remote coverage.
Predictions:
- Both teams score over 75 points.
- Duke makes at least 10 3-pointers.
- Cooper Flagg goes for 20 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks.
Preview notes:
Here’s what to know ahead of Saturday’s game:
Time: 2:15 p.m. (1:15 local)
Location: Moody Coliseum, Dallas.
TV: The CW.
Announcers: Thom Brennaman (play-by-play) and Brian Oliver (analyst).
Series; last meeting: Duke leads 3-1; Duke won 94-79 in the second round of the 1988 NCAA tournament, with Kevin Strickland scoring 31 points and Quin Snyder dishing out 12 assists.
Records: Duke 11-2, 3-0 ACC; SMU 11-2, 2-0.
Stat to watch: 1.0.
That's a benchmark number to keep track of.
SMU has scored over 1.0 points per possession in 12 of its 13 games; Duke has given up over 1.0 ppp in only 4 of its 13 games. This a good strength-on-strength matchup that should be fun to watch.
Matchup to watch: Duke's Tyrese Proctor (No. 5) or Sion James (No. 14) vs. SMU's Boopie Miller (No. 0).
SMU has a deep rotation but the one guarantee is that Miller, who was at Wake Forest last season, is going to be running point.
And that means the responsibility will fall to Proctor and/or James to disrupt Miller and keep SMU's offense from running smoothly.
Mustang to watch: Forward Matt Cross (No. 33).
Another ACC legend of a transfer.
Cross was at Miami and Louisville for a season each before resurrecting his career at UMass for the past two years. Now, he's playing his best basketball -- making almost 40% of his 3s, two double-doubles in the past month, averaging 3 assists over the last four games, etc.
Blue Devil to watch: Forward Cooper Flagg (No. 2).
When in doubt ... best player goes here.
It helps that Flagg is coming off a 24-point game in which he could've easily pushed the envelope to his first 30-point game. If he's still hot with his jumper, Duke's offense should put up some gaudy numbers in this one.
What’s on deck: Duke has a home game against one of the best teams in the ACC, with Pittsburgh coming to town on Tuesday night. SMU can almost follow the Blue Devils back to Durham, as they play at UNC on Tuesday night.
KenPom prediction: Duke wins 79-71.
Injury report: Clean bill of health for Duke, though it's worth noting that Jon Scheyer mentioned after Tuesday's win over Virginia Tech that Maliq Brown is not 100% recovered from the toe injury that caused him to miss a game last month.
SMU goes 9-deep and other than Cross struggling with back problems in the first week of the season, they've been healthy all year.
Programming for tomorrow's game: I'll have remote coverage.
Predictions:
- Both teams score over 75 points.
- Duke makes at least 10 3-pointers.
- Cooper Flagg goes for 20 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks.
Preview notes:
Here’s what to know ahead of Saturday’s game:
Time: 2:15 p.m. (1:15 local)
Location: Moody Coliseum, Dallas.
TV: The CW.
Announcers: Thom Brennaman (play-by-play) and Brian Oliver (analyst).
Series; last meeting: Duke leads 3-1; Duke won 94-79 in the second round of the 1988 NCAA tournament, with Kevin Strickland scoring 31 points and Quin Snyder dishing out 12 assists.
Records: Duke 11-2, 3-0 ACC; SMU 11-2, 2-0.
Stat to watch: 1.0.
That's a benchmark number to keep track of.
SMU has scored over 1.0 points per possession in 12 of its 13 games; Duke has given up over 1.0 ppp in only 4 of its 13 games. This a good strength-on-strength matchup that should be fun to watch.
Matchup to watch: Duke's Tyrese Proctor (No. 5) or Sion James (No. 14) vs. SMU's Boopie Miller (No. 0).
SMU has a deep rotation but the one guarantee is that Miller, who was at Wake Forest last season, is going to be running point.
And that means the responsibility will fall to Proctor and/or James to disrupt Miller and keep SMU's offense from running smoothly.
Mustang to watch: Forward Matt Cross (No. 33).
Another ACC legend of a transfer.
Cross was at Miami and Louisville for a season each before resurrecting his career at UMass for the past two years. Now, he's playing his best basketball -- making almost 40% of his 3s, two double-doubles in the past month, averaging 3 assists over the last four games, etc.
Blue Devil to watch: Forward Cooper Flagg (No. 2).
When in doubt ... best player goes here.
It helps that Flagg is coming off a 24-point game in which he could've easily pushed the envelope to his first 30-point game. If he's still hot with his jumper, Duke's offense should put up some gaudy numbers in this one.
What’s on deck: Duke has a home game against one of the best teams in the ACC, with Pittsburgh coming to town on Tuesday night. SMU can almost follow the Blue Devils back to Durham, as they play at UNC on Tuesday night.
KenPom prediction: Duke wins 79-71.
Injury report: Clean bill of health for Duke, though it's worth noting that Jon Scheyer mentioned after Tuesday's win over Virginia Tech that Maliq Brown is not 100% recovered from the toe injury that caused him to miss a game last month.
SMU goes 9-deep and other than Cross struggling with back problems in the first week of the season, they've been healthy all year.
