Game Thread | Notre Dame at No. 9 Duke
Notre Dame (7-15, 2-9) at Duke (16-5, 7-3)
Date: February 7th
Time: 9:00 PM ET
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium | Durham, N.C.
TV: ACC Network | Wes Durham, Cory Alexander and Jim Boeheim
Line: Duke -16.5
O/U: 134.5
QUICK FACTS
- Duke leads the all-time series 28-9
- The Blue Devils won the last meeting 67-59 in January
- Notre Dame is 2-10 all-time at Cameron Indoor
- Markus Burton has scored in double figures in 15 straight games
- Notre Dame’s scoring defense is No. 2 in the ACC and No. 37 nationally
- ESPN’s Matchup Predictor: 97.4% in favor of Duke
PROJECTED STARTERS
NOTRE DAME
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Markus Burton | 16.0 | 3.3 | 4.0 |
| Braeden Shrewsberry | 9.1 | 2.3 | 0.8 |
| Logan Imes | 2.2 | 2.3 | 1.2 |
| Tae Davis | 8.1 | 5.2 | 0.8 |
| Kebba Njie | 4.0 | 5.7 | 0.7 |
DUKE
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Jeremy Roach | 14.3 | 2.4 | 3.1 |
| Jared McCain | 12.9 | 4.6 | 1.6 |
| Tyrese Proctor | 10.7 | 2.7 | 3.8 |
| Mark Mitchell | 12.4 | 6.2 | 1.2 |
| Kyle Filipowski | 17.7 | 8.5 | 2.8 |
TEAM STATS
| STAT | NOTRE DAME | DUKE |
| Scoring Offense | 61.9 | 81.1 |
| Scoring Defense | 65.5 | 68.4 |
| FG% | 40.1% | 48.4% |
| Rebounds | 36.5 | 35.8 |
| Assists | 9.6 | 15.6 |
| Blocks | 2.6 | 3.9 |
| Steals | 6.0 | 6.6 |
| Turnovers | 14.0 | 9.5 |
THOUGHTS
Cameron Indoor is not the place programs want to take a six-game losing streak, but Notre Dame and Micah Shrewsberry will do just that on Wednesday night. Oh, the Blue Devils are also coming off a disappointing nine-point loss to North Carolina on Saturday.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer made it clear he wanted to see more effort on Monday during his ACC press conference and hinted he was anxious to see how his team would respond following the North Carolina game.
It’s not an ideal situation for a young Notre Dame team that hasn’t handled tough environments and is struggling greatly with offensive execution. Now, the positive is the Irish had a chance to upset Duke last month, but couldn’t come up with enough plays in the final minutes, so Notre Dame knows it can play with the Blue Devils.
The Irish defense did a fine job on Duke All-American Kyle Filipowski in the first meeting as he scored just seven points on 2-for-12 shooting. The X-factor on that day was Mark Mitchell, who scored 23 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to lead all players in both categories.
Perhaps the biggest concern for Notre Dame heading into Wednesday is the fact the Irish couldn’t beat Duke when many things went right in the first game. Duke shot just 35 percent from the field and 30 percent from deep, which will be hard to duplicate the Blue Devils home floor.
How can Notre Dame pull an upset? Well, it must finish the first half and start the second half strong. Duke used a huge 19-3 run to take control of the game during that time span and forced Notre Dame to use its energy to pull back within striking distance for the final twenty minutes.
The other key will be to find a way to hit from deep. Life will be tough in the paint, but the equalizer is the three-ball. Can Braeden Shrewsberry or JR Konieczny get hot to help open the floor for Markus Burton? If so, it will give Notre Dame an opportunity to get to game situations, but it’s also something the Irish have not consistently done all year.
Shrewsberry has said his team hasn’t let doubt creep in because they've been able to keep games close, but Wednesday could very well be Notre Dame’s seventh loss in a row and third by double-digits if they don’t show up with energy and effort. With a loss or blowout, Notre Dame is really staring down a dark tunnel with Virginia Tech coming to South Bend on Saturday.
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