A Total Play For a Top-15 Matchup

Arizona vs. Duke, 7:00 ET

Now we are talking. After a lot of relatively meaningless beatdowns from College Basketball teams to start the season (which happens every year) we are getting one of those meat and potatoes type games. Tonight, we have a matchup between the #12 ranked Arizona Wildcats, and the #2 ranked Duke Blue Devils. This takes place at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Arizona opened their season against the Morgan State Bears. They are... (checks notes)... a school... from somewhere. It wasn't really much of a game as Arizona cruised to a 63-point victory. Again, this happens every year. Teams want a soft matchup to start the season so they can get used to playing together, get confidence, etc. And, I do understand this was a game against an inferior opponent, but Arizona was still shooting rather effectively with a 44.4% three-point rate and 55.3% overall on field goal attempts. I don't care who you play, that type of production is really strong. Perhaps one of the more impressive things is that they only had seven turnovers. That will be a big key to this game. Of course, Duke will play tougher defense, and will be more of a challenge to guard offensively, but if Arizona keeps their turnovers down, they could pull off the upset. My concern for the Wildcats is their height. Yes, they have three guys over seven feet tall, but I don't expect them to be on the court together at any time. They started three guards against Morgan State and that could be the look they try here. Caleb Love, a senior transfer, should help prepare Arizona for the game considering he played three years with North Carolina.

Arizona takes on Duke tonight in North Carolina. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Duke opened their season with a win against Dartmouth. While it wasn't quite the drubbing that Arizona laid on their opponent, the game was still not close and very easy for the Blue Devils. In that contest, they were able to win by almost 40. Perhaps the best part for them is that the game took place at Cameron as well. That means they've been practicing, and now playing in the same gym. Sight lines are a big thing for players and not having to change your environment should help your shot be a little more accurate. In this game, I expect Kyle Filipowski to once again be a focal point of the offense. He is facing someone his same height, but I think Filipowski has a better touch and is the more skilled player. I think he probably gets his opponents in foul trouble tonight. On the outside, the guards match up fairly well, but we need to see how some of these top-tier recruits Duke has do in their first true college test. Caleb Foster looked great in 29 minutes off the bench against Dartmouth, but the rest of the team was somewhat average. Their starters played only half the game but it seemed like only two put real effort into the game (Jeremy Roach and Filipowski, both scored in double figures). I'm interested to see how they attack the Wildcats in this game and if they use the same rotation (with the exception of garbage time minutes for the bench guys).

Both teams are offensive squads. It may come down to who can have fewer turnovers and lock up their opponent when it matters most. I think that will likely be Duke, especially this early in the season and on their home court. I'd lean toward the -5.5, but I think both are going to be effective offensively. I'm going to take the over 154 in the game though. This should be a fairly fast paced game and both should shoot at a pretty high clip.

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