The Duke Blue Devils lost for the second time in four games on Tuesday night, a back-and-forth battle with No. 1 Kansas resulting in a 75-72 defeat, but the Basketball Power Index produced by ESPN still believes in [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag]’s team.
As of Wednesday morning, Duke remains second behind only the Houston Cougars, another two-loss team. ESPN Analytics considers the Blue Devils the best offense in the country, which might be a bit surprising for fans who watched the slow start against Kansas, but Duke is averaging 82.5 points per game while shooting 37.8% from 3-point range this season.
While KenPom, another popular analytics site, considers Duke’s defense the best in the nation, ESPN BPI ranks it third behind the Cougars and Tennessee Volunteers. The combination still makes the Blue Devils a dangerous team, and ESPN Analytics projects they’ll finish with 25.7 wins in a 31-game regular-season schedule with more than an 80% chance to win the ACC.
The Kansas Jayhawks, still undefeated after Tuesday and still the top-ranked team in the country, moved up three spots to seventh in the BPI rankings with their victory. The North Carolina Tar Heels, who also lost for the second time this season on Tuesday night, tumbled five spots to 11th.