Three points: Duke men’s basketball needs help from bench, reliable bigs to defeat Delaware

Duke hopes to rebound from its last-minute loss towards Kansas in Indianapolis towards Delaware at Cameron Indoor Stadium Friday night. The Blue Zone is right here with three key factors for the Blue Devils to get again to successful methods:

A faster begin

The Blue Devils started the primary half of their recreation towards USC Upstate, in addition to their most up-to-date towards Kansas, slowly. Duke didn’t see its first factors on the board towards the Spartans till the 16:22 mark within the first half. Capturing struggles have been obvious as soon as once more Tuesday through the Blue Devils’ check towards the sixth-ranked Jayhawks. The primary half of the Champions Traditional was not a showcase of both staff’s 3-point taking pictures talents; Kansas out-performed head coach Jon Scheyer’s squad by taking pictures a meager 15.38% from past the arc, with Duke solely 1-for-11 from deep. The Blue Devils have been chilly throughout within the first 20 minutes of play, solely making 10 of the 32 pictures they tried. This allowed the Jayhawks to create an 11-point deficit that Duke ultimately closed to 4 by the tip of the primary half. The Blue Devils should financial institution their pictures—and make them early—as a way to stop Delaware from occurring a devastating early first-half run and creating one other deficit they can not overcome.

Look to the bench 

Tuesday’s recreation was an underwhelming displaying of the talent and depth that the Blue Devils possess. Dereck Full of life II, Jacob Grandison and Jaylen Blakes have been the three gamers chosen to bolster the offense and hopefully bridge the early hole the Jayhawks created. Nonetheless, Duke’s bench factors in Indianapolis amounted to only 9, in comparison with the 32 factors it made off the bench throughout final week’s matchup with USC Upstate. Full of life contributed 4 factors together with his return to play and Blakes scored the remaining 5 towards Kansas. Delaware’s two video games towards Air Pressure and UNCW ought to emphasize the significance of bench factors for Duke; the Blue Hens solely made 14 bench factors versus Air Pressure and 15 towards UNCW. The Blue Devils have the priority, potential and the gamers to out-score Delaware off the bench: the query is whether or not Duke’s bench lives as much as the expectations.  

Factors within the paint 

One factor that Duke does extremely effectively is driving the ball. Though the Blue Devils have been outshined by Kansas’ offense, which scored 48 of its factors within the paint, Duke nonetheless scored 42 of its 65 factors within the paint as effectively. Towards USC Upstate, the Blue Devils scored 46 factors from inside. Duke’s measurement is the important thing to its repeated success close to the basket, with gamers like Full of life, Christian Reeves and Kyle Filipowski—the staff’s main scorer—all measuring in not less than 7-foot tall. Filipowski’s measurement can be essential in securing rebounds, a fourth consecutive double-double and defensive blocks towards the Blue Hens, whose star scorers are all beneath 6-foot-7. With Delaware solely scoring 22 factors within the paint throughout its duel with Air Pressure, Duke’s peak and sample of excellence across the basket ought to result in a dominant Blue Satan win.