Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center, Notre Dame, IN
Tip-off: Monday, 7:00 p.m. ET
Line: Pick, Total: 154.0

#21 Duke will be looking to make a statement with a win over #20 Notre Dame on Monday.

Duke is coming off of an 85-83 victory against Wake Forest, and that game was way too close for the Blue Devils. They were favored by 6.5 points in that one, and they have just been lousy overall recently. The team has lost three of its past five games, and has also failed to cover in seven of the past nine. A good performance on Monday could certainly help Duke get back on track though. The Fighting Irish have lost two straight games, but they are a very good team. Those losses came at the hands of both Virginia and an underrated Georgia Tech team, so they will not be kicking themselves coming into this one. What makes Notre Dame so tough to play is the team’s highly efficient offense. The Fighting Irish are scoring 117.9 points per 100 possessions, which is good for 17th in the nation. They will, however, be trying to outscore a Duke team that is scoring 118.3 points per 100 possessions (15th in NCAA). Notre Dame has gotten the best of this head-to-head series, though. Over the past three seasons, the Fighting Irish are 4-1 both SU and ATS against Duke. The Blue Devils are a miserable 0-7 ATS when the line is +3 to -3 over the past two seasons, but they are facing a Fighting Irish team that is just 4-14 ATS after a game where its opponent was called for 10 or fewer fouls since 1997.

Duke is coming off of a victory, but the team still needs to play a lot better basketball moving forward. One guy that has consistently showed up for the Blue Devils is G Luke Kennard (20.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG). For all of the talk about G Grayson Allen (15.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.9 APG, 1.0 SPG), Kennard somehow flies under the radar for this Duke team. That is unfair to the sophomore, as he has been one of the best players in the ACC this season. Not only is Kennard averaging 20.4 PPG on the season, but he is doing so on 54.4% shooting from the field and a ridiculous 46.8% shooting from three. Kennard was absurd against Wake Forest last game, scoring 34 points on 11-for-14 shooting from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 shooting from the outside. He’ll look to be similarly effective against Notre Dame on Monday. Allen, meanwhile, must play a solid two-way game on Monday, and needs to do his best to avoid any drama on the court. He got a technical foul against Wake Forest, and he has to find a way to keep himself calm. F Jayson Tatum (15.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 1.5 BPG) is also worth mentioning for this Duke team. Tatum is extremely athletic, and he’ll need to make sure he makes his presence felt all over the court in this one. He is more capable of dominating games on the glass and should be better defensively than he has shown. He must put the effort in on Monday.

If Notre Dame is going to snap a two-game losing streak and beat Duke then F Bonzie Colson (15.5 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 1.3 BPG, 1.1 SPG) is going to need to play extremely well for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame is a very undersized team, and Colson often sees a lot of time as the Fighting Irish’s center. He might only be 6’5’’, but Colson is hard to move in the paint. He has recorded a double-double in three of the past five games, and he could do that once again on Monday. On the perimeter, Gs Steve Vasturia (14.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.3 SPG) and Matt Farrell (14.0 PPG, 5.6 APG, 1.4 SPG) are going to need to play well on both ends of the floor. They are going up against one of the best backcourts in the nation on Monday, and they can’t afford to get dominated in this. That shouldn’t happen, though, as both guys are very tough and more than capable of holding their own here. Vasturia is a very creative scorer, and both guys can actually shoot the three-ball with tremendous accuracy. Another wing to watch out for is F V.J. Beachem (14.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.0 BPG). Beachem is looked at favorably as an NBA prospect, as he should be a valuable three-and-D guy at the next level. It’d be big if he can showcase those skills on Monday as well.