Predicting the 8 biggest games for Louisville basketball in 2019-20

@ Duke

January 18th

Despite it happening almost a year ago, Louisville will still have an extremely sour taste in their mouth after the collapse against Duke at home.

This team has certainly grown since then, but the motivation of enacting revenge won’t be enough to beat Duke by itself, especially at Cameron Indoor.

The Cameron Crazies will be out in full effect on a Saturday night and this will be a huge opportunity for Louisville to make a statement to the nation. Duke is very good, as expected, and was voted as the preseason favorite to win the ACC for a reason.

They bring back Tre Jones, who is the best defender in college basketball and gave Louisville fits last season in their matchup. Jones is expected to lead the team that will be comprised of high profile recruits like Vernon Carey Jr., whose size will almost certainly be a problem for Louisville.

Fellow five-star Matthew Hurt is just as important as his shooting ability and size will help space the floor for Duke. Duke’s three-point shooting will be an intriguing thing to watch, as they don’t look like a great perimeter shooting team on paper. Hurt and reserve Alex O’Connell will have to carry them in this department.

This will be an epic game and it certainly looks like it will be a clash of two of the best teams in college basketball. If Louisville can force Duke to score from the perimeter, I think Coach Mack will like his chances in this one. If Louisville gets going from the perimeter, I believe they’ll be well on their way to a win.

Prediction: Jordan Nwora overpowers Duke and Sam Williamson has a breakout game as Louisville narrowly pulls off a win in Durham. Louisville over Duke, 78-76.