For the fourth time in six games, the Duke men’s basketball team has a chance at a resume-changing victory on Wednesday night.
After late turnovers swung back-and-forth battles against the Kentucky Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks at neutral sites, the Blue Devils finally host a top-25 opponent at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
However, the Auburn Tigers might be the most intimidating opponent yet. The SEC program, led by early player of the year favorite Johni Broome, has already defeated the Houston Cougars, Iowa State Cyclones, and North Carolina Tar Heels in their 7-0 start to the season.
With the Tigers moving into the top overall seed in ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projection, this game could very well become a tiebreaker for a No. 1 seed in March. So will the Blue Devils lose another heartbreaker, or is it finally time for [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates to make a statement?
Here are our staff predictions for Wednesday’s game.
Ryan Haley, Duke Wire site editor
There’s no reason to panic just because of the two early losses. Flagg and fellow five-star freshman [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag] will grow from those late-game possessions against Kansas and Kentucky, and playing both of those programs down to the final 20 seconds is a testament to the quick learning curve of Duke’s three freshman starters.
However, asking them to learn fast enough for a win on Wednesday might be a bridge too far. The Tigers have beaten some of the best teams in the nation in convincing fashion, and even their advanced metrics contain few weaknesses.
There’s certainly a path to victory in this game. The Cameron Crazies can swing a game, and the Blue Devils have the height to slow down Broome. I think this may well be another back-and-forth loss for head coach Jon Scheyer and his roster, however.
Auburn 82, Duke 77
Josiah Caswell, Staff Writer
Duke has faced a very tough schedule to start 2024, and it doesn’t get any easier this week. Some may argue that Auburn is an even tougher matchup for the Blue Devils than the top-ranked Jayhawks.
The No. 2 team in the nation, Auburn is undefeated with four ranked victories already. They’ve simply been on an absolute tear.
Duke does get this game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, giving them a leg up there, but they’ll need their freshmen to come up big,.
In Duke’s wins, Flagg and Knueppel both put forth strong performances. However, in their losses to Kentucky and Kansas, the two both struggled at times. They’ve had their growing pains and simply can’t afford to have any of those against the Tigers.
It should make for one of the biggest games of the year, but I’m not sure if the Blue Devils will be able to end the Tigers’ dominant early run.
Auburn 88, Duke 75