After ending their losing streak with a win over Georgia Tech, Duke will look to make it two wins in a row with a victory over Clemson. The Blue Devils have an opportunity to notch two consecutive wins over KenPom top 60 ranked teams. Georgia Tech is currently ranked 59th and Clemson is ranked 49th in these rankings.
Clemson started the year red hot. They were 9-1 after their first 10 games, with impressive wins over Florida State and Alabama. The Tigers have since cooled off, losing three of their last four, though they did beat Louisville in their last game. Clemson now sits at 10-4 overall, with a 4-4 record in ACC play.
What to watch for:
Roach/Goldwire
In each of the last two games, Jeremy Roach has been given the starting nod over Goldwire. Roach has gone scoreless in each of these games, and was significantly outperformed by Goldwire against Georgia Tech. It would not come as a surprise to see Goldwire inserted into the starting lineup over Roach, though Coach K may want to bring Goldwire off the bench again in hopes that he can again provide a spark off the bench.
Jalen Johnson half court offense
Jalen Johnson has shown improvement generating his own offense in half court settings. Johnson scored 14 points in the half court against Pittsburgh and added another 14 half court points against Georgia Tech. This is an important development for Duke as Johnson struggled scoring in the half court early in the season. If he can continue to produce like this in half court offenses, it helps Duke’s offense tremendously.
Aamir Simms
Aamir Simms is the only player for Clemson that averages double figure scoring per game, at 12.0 ppg on the season. He also leads Clemson in rebounding at 5.9 per game. Simms is capable of having big nights offensively, with games this season of 24, 25, and 19 points. Clemson does not have much offensive firepower outside of Simms. Preventing Simms from having a big game will be key for Duke in this one.
Number of three point attempts for Duke
Duke attempted just 16 threes against Georgia Tech, their second lowest total on the season. This came after a three game stretch where Duke attempted 27.3 threes per game. Duke operated with more aggression driving to the basket and the result was a decrease in three point attempts. It will be interesting to see if Duke follows a similar formula or if they return to a high volume of three point attempts.