The Duke Blue Devils look to rebound from their loss in the Maui Invitational as they take on a rising Indiana Hoosiers team on Tuesday night.
The Duke Blue Devils have been touted and covered from every angle early in the 2018-19 college basketball season — or so it seemed. However, they now are in uncharted territory as they’re coming off of their first loss of the season, falling to Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational final. Now, the freshmen-led Blue Devils will welcome the Indiana Hoosiers to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday for a marquee ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup.
In the loss to the Zags, RJ Barrett got a bit shot-happy for Duke and, with said shots not falling, it hurt them down the stretch. Zion Williamson remains dominant still, and we know what Barrett and Cam Reddish are capable of. However, the key for this team is their frontcourt, specifically Marques Bolden.
Bolden was dominated against Gonzaga and the results spoke for themselves. As talented as the Duke freshman are, they can’t do it all every night out — though they can on many nights, it should be said. Still, their plight becomes much easier if Bolden is able to find some consistently serviceable play on the inside.
Indiana isn’t the same caliber of the Blue Devils, but the Hoosiers are good team nonetheless. Bolstered by star freshman Romeo Langford, this is a team that could be a dark horse in the Big Ten this season.
WATCH College Basketball ON ESPN+: Get your free 7-day trial of ESPN+
On Tuesday, though, the key for the Hoosiers is going to be big man Juwan Morgan. If he’s able to get inside and take advantage of a mismatch against Bolden, in a similar manner to how the Zags attacked there, Indiana could well have a chance to pick up an early-season signature win on the road.
Game Info
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018
Start Time: 9:30 p.m. ET
Location: Durham, NC
Arena: Cameron Indoor Stadium
TV Info: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
With a loss to Arkansas as the blemish on their record, people may be sleeping on this Indiana team. However, the Hoosiers have the talent to at least push Duke on Tuesday night. Having said that, it will be interesting to see how the Blue Devils young team bounces back from their first loss of the season.