Duke will look to beat Notre Dame for the second time this season. The teams last met on December 16th, a game in which Duke was in control throughout. Currently on a two game losing streak, Duke will look for a repeat of the first matchup in hopes of getting back into the winning column.
Much like Duke, Notre Dame has struggled all season. The Fighting Irish are 7-10 overall and 4-7 in the ACC. They are just over a week removed from their best win of the season, an 84-58 blowout win at Pittsburgh, but fell to Georgia Tech in their most recent game.
What to watch for:
Henry Coleman
Henry Coleman is coming off his best game of the season. The Freshman impacted the game against UNC in a major way in his 13 minutes off the bench. With the NCAA Tournament all but out of reach, player development becomes arguably the most important aspect of the rest of this season. Henry Coleman has not seen much action this season, but that may change the rest of the way. It would be beneficial for both Coleman and Duke if he can build off his impressive performance against UNC. The more he plays well, the more confidence he will have going into next season.
Notre Dame’s three point attack
Notre Dame is a team that lives and dies behind the three point line. They have attempted 398 three pointers this season, the 19th highest total of threes attempted of any team in the country. They shoot the three ball very well. Their 38.69% team percentage from beyond the arc also rank the 19th best in the country. Allowing teams to beat them beyond the arc has been an issue for Duke all season, and Duke will have to be careful to prevent the same thing from happening against Notre Dame.
Jaemyn Brakefield
There is no question that Brakefield is in Coach K’s doghouse right now. He has not exceeded five minutes of game play in any the last five games. Against UNC, he was benched after air-balling a three. Similar to Henry Coleman, Brakefield’s development the rest of the way will be critical for Duke. If/when Brakefield returns to playing more minutes will be something to monitor both in this game and in the rest of Duke’s remaining games.
Offensive rebounding battle
Much like the UNC game, the offensive rebounding battle will be something to monitor, but for completely different reasons. Unlike UNC, Notre Dame does a very poor job of generating second chance opportunities. Their 6.3 offensive rebounds per game rank second to last in the ACC. Duke will need to exploit this weakness in Notre Dame and ensure they do not get second chances.
Turnovers
Turnovers have been an issue for Duke. In theory, Notre Dame is the perfect team to matchup against when you are having an issue with turnovers. The Fighting Irish force just 8.4 turnovers per game, by far the lowest number of any team in the ACC. The next lowest, Virginia, forces almost two full turnovers per game more at 10.1 per game. If there is any team in the ACC where Duke should not struggle with turnovers when playing against, it is Notre Dame.