Louisville basketball vs. Duke gameday primer

Two of college basketball’s consistent powerhouses are at a tipping point in their season on Saturday with Louisville basketball and Duke each sitting on two-game losing streaks.

The Blue Devils are in an unfamiliar place hovering just barely above .500 on the year. They have beaten the three worst teams in the ACC that have a 2-17 record combined. Duke has zero NCAA tournament resume building wins this year

Meanwhile, the Cardinals are on a personal two-game losing streak to two of Florida’s ACC schools in Miami and Florida State. Miami is a 6-7 team that just came off a 26-point loss to Syracuse. Louisville’s one resume builder is a win against a ranked Virginia Tech team.

This is a huge game for two teams that could end up battling for an “at-large” bid into the NCAA tournament depending on how things shake out . While there is still plenty of time left for both to end up in the madness, this game could stand to be a resume builder that tips the scales at the end of the regular season.

Whatever the case, this game is very important for Louisville on their home floor.

Let’s preview Louisville’s matchup against Duke

Who: Duke Blue Devils (5-4) at Louisville Cardinals (9-3)

Where: KFC Yum! Center; Louisville, Kentucky

When: Saturday, January 23 at 4 pm eastern time.

Spread: Louisville -2.5

TV: ESPN

Projected starting lineups (via gocards.com)

Louisville Cardinals (9-3, 4-2)

F 10 Samuell Williamson 6-7 210 So. Rockwall, Texas

F 14 Dre Davis 6-5 220 Fr. Indianapolis, Ind.

C 24 Jae’Lyn Withers 6-8 215 R-Fr. Charlotte, N.C.

G 1 Carlik Jones 6-1 185 Gr. Cincinnati, Ohio

G 13 David Johnson 6-5 210 So. Louisville, Ky

Duke Blue Devils (5-4, 3-2)

F 5 Jaemyn Brakefield 6-8 216 Fr. Jackson, Miss.

C 15 Mark Williams 7-0 243 Fr. Virginia Beach, Va.

G 2 DJ Steward 6-2 163 Fr. Chicago, Ill.

G 3 Jeremy Roach 6-1 175 Fr. Leesburg, Va.

G 14 Jordan Goldwire 6-2 184 Sr. Norcross, Ga

Players to watch for Duke

F Jalen Johnson– The freshman may not start in this game, but he will most certainly be playing a ton of minutes. Johnson was out for about a month with an injury, but in his second game back he posted 24 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 blocks against Pittsburgh. He is a do-it-all player that is a mismatch nightmare and likely a lottery pick.

F Matthew Hurt – Hurt will likely start this game despite the projected starting lineups in the matchup’s game notes. The sophomore is a prime candidate for ACC Player of the Year. He is an elite shooting forward that is sitting at 44 percent from beyond the arc this season. He has scored in double digits in every game this season with three double-doubles.

G DJ Steward – The former five star freshman was known as a shooter in high school, but he has been finding his way on this Duke team. He is a lengthy 6’2″ that will impact the offensive end of the floor in a lot of ways.

Players to watch for Louisville

G/F Charles Minlend – The grad transfer has not played more than a minute despite being available the past three games. Chris Mack says that he will be inserted more into the lineup Saturday afternoon. This is a storyline to keep an eye on.

F Jae’Lyn Withers – He has been tremendous in three of the past four games. His lone bad showing came when he fouled out in just nine minutes of game time against Wake Forest. The redshirt freshman is starting to play a confident and exciting brand of basketball. Look for him to be a huge part of the operation against Duke.

G Carlik Jones – He has put up 15-plus points in each of the past six games including 20 or more on three occasions in that span. He has been dominant in every sense of the word in ACC play. He will have a couple of freshmen matching up with him Saturday.

Final thoughts

The key component to Louisville’s two lost games in a row has been extremely slow starts. In the first half of the Florida State game, they went down by as many as 24. That is not good enough for a team as talented as this. If Louisville hopes to win this matchup, a quick start will be of great importance.

Duke has had similar struggles in the first half recently.

Score prediction

Louisville 76, Duke 70

Duke has three extremely unimpressive ACC wins this season and does not have one performance to hang their hat on. They still are very talented and the individual parts are good in their own right. But they have not put together anything to write home about.

The ACC is tough and the Blue Devils will always be a tough out with Hurt and Johnson causing problems in the conference. The play of Withers, Jones, and David Johnson should be enough to elevate the Cardinals in this game.