Duke, which has yet to win a road game, faces Miami at home
Miami at Duke
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham
TV/Radio: ESPN
Projected starting lineups
Miami (12-5, 2-3 ACC)
G Ja’Quan Newton 14.7 ppg, 4.2 apg
G Davon Reed 15.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg
G Bruce Brown 10.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg
F Kamari Murphy 6.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg
F Dewan Huell 6.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg
Duke (14-4, 2-3 ACC)
G Grayson Allen 15.7 ppg, 4.3 apg
G Luke Kennard 20.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg
G Matt Jones 8.2 ppg, 3 rpg
F Jayson Tatum 16.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg
F Harry Giles 5.6 ppg, 5 rpg
Three things to know
▪ If Amile Jefferson (foot) still can’t play, Duke’s other bigs must step up inside. In the past two seasons, the No. 18 Blue Devils are 22-3 with Jefferson, 17-12 without the veteran forward. Duke hasn’t won a road game this year, so it’s favorable against Miami at home after a week off. In their past two losses, the Blue Devils allowed 96 points in the paint. It’ll be interesting to see if Harry Giles will get back on track after his first stretch of tough road games. Jefferson’s latest update was day-to-day. The Blue Devils didn’t practice Monday, but had they, Jefferson wouldn’t have been healthy enough to participate.
▪ Jefferson’s bruised bone is just the latest Duke injury. Seven players have missed time this season due to injury, which has forced alterations in the starting lineups and, sometimes, even affected the bench. Duke didn’t show much depth in its last two losses, as its bench combined for seven points against Florida State and Louisville. In a single game against Boston College, the bench contributed 27 points. It had 36 against Georgia Tech, coach Krzyzewski’s last game coaching and Jefferson’s last complete game.
▪ Duke has lost its last two straight, and four of the last five, against Miami. Both teams are sitting in the middle of the ACC, and a win for Duke would turn its momentum in the conference around. Before then, the last time Duke lost two away games in the ACC was during the 1994-95 season (13-18, missed NCAA tournament for the first time since 1983). Before this season, the last time Blue Devils started under .500 in their first five conference games was during the 1995-96 season (18-13, first round), when they dropped the first four of five.
Jessika Morgan
This story was originally published January 20, 2017 at 4:09 PM with the headline "Duke, which has yet to win a road game, faces Miami at home."