Blue Devils gear up for Top 25 matchup with OSU in Cameron

DURHAM, NC — The No. 17 Duke Blue Devils take on No. 25 Ohio State tonight in Cameron Indoor Stadium for the second straight year of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Duke is coming off of a disappointing finish in the Phil Knight Legacy tournament, losing to now-No. 6 Purdue in the championship game by 19 points. The Buckeyes on the other hand are fresh off an impressive win over No. 21 Texas Tech last Wednesday in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

The Blue Devils are 4-0 at home in Cameron on the year. Meanwhile, this will be Ohio State’s first true away game so far this season.

What Duke has lacked in recent games is Ohio State’s strongest weapon: offense. In the Buckeyes’ last game against Texas Tech, Justice Sueing made the by scoring 33 points in 31 minutes. Not to mention, their leading scorer Brice Sensabaugh is shooting 46.2% from beyond the arc for the Buckeyes while averaging 15.8 points.

If the Blue Devils want to get a rhythm going offensively, they’ll need to get production from players other than just Kyle Filipowski and Jeremy Roach. The two are Duke’s leading scorers on the season as other freshmen in the rotation have struggled.

Starting guard Tyrese Proctor is shooting an abysmal 30.6 percent from the field in Duke’s first eight games, while Dariq Whitehead is also shooting poorly from the field at 29.4 percent. Despite leading the team in blocks with nearly two a game, Dereck Lively II has struggled offensively as well.

For the Blue Devils to be victorious against Ohio State tonight, Duke will need to focus on their defense and effort on the glass. With both the Buckeyes and the Blue Devils averaging slightly under 42 rebounds on the season so far, chances are the battle on the boards tonight will play a huge role in determining the winner.

“For our young guys, they’re used to having the ball in their hands all the time and are used to valuing scoring as the way to make an impact,” Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said. “And really for us, we’ve emphasized defend and rebound.”

First WHITE-OUT in Cameron History 🤍🤍🤍 #BeatOSU pic.twitter.com/e8V5FZELI9

— K-Ville Nation (@kville_nation) November 24, 2022

According to K-Ville Nation, the official Twitter account of the Cameron Crazies, tonight will be the first-ever white-out held by Duke’s student section. Hopefully, the Blue Devils’ home-court advantage in the final ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup will prove to be helpful in the heavyweight power-five showdown.

The game tips off at 7:15 p.m. ET and will be shown live on ESPN.