DUKE (16-5, 4-4) at NOTRE DAME (17-5, 6-3)
Where: Purcell Pavilion (9,149)
Rankings: Notre Dame is ranked 14th in the AP poll; Duke is 17th.
Time/TV: 7 p.m./ESPN
Matchup History: Notre Dame and Duke meet for the 28th time tonight, with the Blue Devils leading the all-time series 20-7. The Irish have won five of the past six meetings in the series, including a victory in last year’s ACC Tournament and at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Notre Dame Notes
According to head coach Mike Brey, Notre Dame’s defense has been good enough to win its past two games against Virginia and Georgia Tech, holding those opponents to 71 and 62 points, respectively.
But Notre Dame’s two worst offensive games of the season coincided with those efforts, giving the Irish two losses entering tonight’s game against Duke.
“We played really good teams, there’s no question about it,” Brey said before Sunday’s practice. “Maybe we haven’t been able to get into the best of our offensive rhythm, but I would give a lot of credit to the defensive schemes of both teams.”
The Irish will try and get back to their winning ways against the Blue Devils, a team Notre Dame has had success against since joining the ACC. It might be the kick-start the Irish need entering the final nine games of the regular season.
“These guys have had success against that program, so they feel they can beat the Duke program,” said Brey, a former Duke assistant. “Those have been great wins for our program, they’ve been great credibility wins nationally and in the league when we’ve been able to beat Duke.”
Duke is successful when it wins big in the rebounding battle. In its 16 victories, Duke’s rebounding margin is +7.4, while that margin is -1.2 in its five losses. The Blue Devils’ leading rebounder is fifth-year senior forward Amile Jefferson (9.5 a game).
Notre Dame, meanwhile, has faced similar rebounding woes in its past two games. Against Virginia, the Irish were out-rebounded 38-22, while the Yellow Jackets beat them 37-29 on the glass.
“We’ve got to be better on the defensive backboard and that’s something we’re capable of and something we’ve done for the most part this year,” Vasturia said. “We’ve played some good rebounding teams, but it’s something we’ve got to get back to and make sure we’re all getting to the glass. It’s something that’s going to help us win games.”
Brey has typically used his smaller, downshifted lineup for a majority of the time this season, sacrificing rebounding for offense. Against Georgia Tech, that strategy was futile, and Brey turned to senior forward Austin Torres for a season-high 21 minutes.
“If we have more size in there that does help us rebound, and that’s always been a fine line when we’ve downshifted and played small,” Brey said. “Are we able to rebound well enough? Or are we just so good offensively that we can absorb some putbacks. Recently we haven’t been so good offensively with the smaller lineup that you can stay with it. We played the two big guys more.”
Other notes:
• Notre Dame is KenPom’s No. 24 rated team, while Duke is 15th. KenPom gives the Irish a 57 percent chance of winning tonight’s game.
• Notre Dame has four players averaging at least 14.0 points per game this season: Bonzie Colson (15.5), V.J. Beachem (14.5), Steve Vasturia (14.5) and Matt Farrell (14.0). UCLA is the only other team in the country with that distinction.
Matt Farrell — Rated 78th in the country by KenPom in assist rate (30.2).
Steve Vasturia — Shooting 40.9 percent on 3-pointers in ACC play, 19th in the conference.
V.J. Beachem — Reached 1,000 career points in Saturday’s loss to Georgia Tech.
Bonzie Colson — Has made just five of his last 10 free-throw attempts. Shooting 83 percent for the season.
Martinas Geben — Brey said Geben will stay in the starting lineup despite playing just eight minutes against Georgia Tech. Geben did not start the second half as Brey went with Torres.
Duke Overview
Duke has been led by interim head coach Jeff Capel since Jan. 7, with head coach Mike Krzyzewski recovering from back surgery.
In Krzyzewski’s absence, the Blue Devils are 3-3, most recently getting a comeback 85-83 win at Wake Forest on Saturday, their first true road win of the season. Sophomore guard Luke Kennard — the team’s leading scorer at 20.4 points a game — made the winning shot, part of a dominant second-half effort.
The 6-foot-6 Franklin, Ohio, native, scored 30 points in the second half against the Demon Deacons, going 10-for-10 from the foul line and 5-for-5 from 3-point range.
“They found themselves a little bit on Saturday,” Brey said. “I really think that was a big day for them. Their backs were against the wall and they made big plays and big shots to win. They will come in here very confident.”
Brey said he is most worried about Duke’s backcourt, which features Kennard, junior Grayson Allen (15.3 ppg) and senior Matt Jones (8.3 ppg).
The Irish go from defending the pack-it-in Yellow Jackets on Saturday to an opponent tonight that can hurt them from deep. Duke gets 29.3 percent of its offense from 3-pointers, led by Kennard, who has hit 20-of-36 3’s in ACC play, second-best in the conference.
“Where we have to switch quickly as far as a quick turnaround…you went from really being able to jam up the lane against Georgia Tech who doesn’t shoot much, to a team that can light you up from out there,” Brey said. “We’ve got to get back out on shooters and our bigs will be alone in the post.”
In the post, freshman forward Jayson Tatum leads the way with 15.8 points and 6.4 rebounds a game. Fellow freshman Harry Giles, who missed the season’s first 11 games with a knee injury, is averaging 5.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in 13.3 minutes a game.
“I know they have a lot of freshmen who play and contribute so we’ll learn more about them, but they play hard and they can really score,” Vasturia said. “The games we’ve played against them they’ve been pretty high-scoring, so finding ways to defend them and force them into tough shots.”
Duke was picked as the No. 1 team in the AP’s preseason poll, but it hasn’t quite lived up to that billing. The team has battled injuries — Duke has used eight starting lineups this season and eight of its top 11 players have missed time this season due to injury.
Outlook
Since joining the ACC, Notre Dame’s five victories over Duke have come by an average of five points. Expect another close one tonight — Vegas has it as a pick ‘em — with the Irish finding a way to pull it out late.
Prediction: Notre Dame 85, Duke 83
Vegas Spread: Pick ‘em
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