Duke 78 EKU 43

Duke beat Eastern Kentucky by 35 yesterday (78-43) in a game that is hardly worth mentioning. EKU played a strange zone and tried to prevent Duke's penetration while disguising the defense as man (thus, enticing players to try to drive to the basket). To their credit, it frustrated Duke's offense, holding the Devils to 12 points in the first 10 minutes. After some offensive adjustments, Duke went on to score 66 in the next 30 minutes of play.

Interesting stats:

• Duke had the worst game of the year in terms of turnovers, turning it over 20 times in about 69-70 possessions. Luckily the Devils also shot 67% eFG from the field. A game this sloppy in the future will mean a loss. Hopefully the Devils go back to being careful with the ball.
• Duke is shooting 41.7% from behind the arc for the season, and over 57% from inside the arc.
  
• Taylor King and Jon Scheyer are 25 for 48 from beyond the arc on the season.
  
• King has a 139.3 individual efficiency and almost 25% usage so far, with only 3 turnovers. Classic catch and shoot player. He was described in HS as a "stick of dynamite" and I'm not sure a better analogy could ever exist.

Anyway, another tough game tomorrow against Wisconsin. Since Wisconsin is in the Big 10, they are obviously a great rebounding team (if you can't score, you need to be able to at least rebound), and they're big and physical and very good defensively. They don't turn it over often. They have lost a lot of offense from last year. They aren't a very good shooting team. Sounds like Illinois in some ways.

Things to watch out for:

• What will Wisconsin guard? If they try to man-up, Nelson and Henderson will have to be in attack mode offensively. If they play a softer man or a zone, look for lineups with King, Scheyer, and Paulus to get a fair amount of floor time.
  
• There's almost no question that Wisconsin will outrebound Duke - the question is will it matter? Can Duke guard offensive rebounds that lead directly to points? Can Duke shoot well enough to not need offensive rebounds? So far Duke has shot very well from the field, but didn't guard Illinois particularly well when trying to score off the offensive glass. Look for that to be a point of emphasis.
• The game will not likely be fast paced. Coach K has said that this team will play a more up-tempo game than last year's team. That is true, but an essential part of playing up-tempo will be causing turnovers against a stingy Wisconsin team. The game won't be as fast as Duke wants unless the Devils can control the defensive glass pretty well or force a fair number of open court turnovers.
• Who is in foul trouble? Zoubek will probably play a reasonably big role in this game. If he commits dumb, quick fouls, Duke could find itself severely out muscled in the middle.
  

Prediction? Let's say, Duke 76, Wisconsin 59