Texas Tech vs. Duke – Sweet 16 Preview
Big bad Texas Tech Red Raider Basketball made multiple second half comebacks to defeat Notre Dame 59-53 in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament in San Diego on Sunday Night. Now the Red Raiders can make more history Thursday Night as they face the Duke Blue Devils in San Francisco.
What’s at stake in this matchup is a spot in the Elite Eight for the third time in four tournament appearances for the Red Raider Basketball program, a chance to beat Duke for the first time in school history, and getting to send legendary Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski off into the sunset of retirement and to leave his basketball heart in San Francisco.
It’s a perfect scenario for Texas Tech.
The Duke Blue Devils by the Numbers
Overall Record: 30-6
ACC Record: 16-4 (ACC Regular Season Champions)
Ken Pom Rankings
Overall: 9th
Offensive Rating: 120.3 (4th)
Defensive Rating: 95.4 (42nd)
Strength of Schedule: 63rd
What Duke Does Well
The Blue Devils offensively have two bigs who are NBA quality in Paulo Banchero and Mark Williams both average double figures in scoring with 17 and 11.2 points per game. They both combined for 15.3 rebounds per game and will be challenge for the Texas Tech front court of Bryson Williams, Kevin O’Bannor, and Marcos Santos-Silva.
The Duke offensive rating of 4th is impressive, but looking at who they played this season and the overall weakness of the ACC.
Where Duke Struggles
The Blue Devils have been suspect on defense and there most recent losses to Virginia Tech and North Carolina give Tech the blue print for beating them. The Tech defense will generate turnovers and produce points, but there’s a real need for a balance between dropping 97 points and struggling to break 55 against Notre Dame. Tech needs another monster performance from TJ Shannon and Williams to get Tech over the hump and back into the Elite Eight.
The Coach K Factor
The swan song season of Coach K is the unknown factor in this whole game. Duke rallied to defeat Michigan State in the 2nd Round and yet they’ve lost by 15 to Virginia Tech and gave up 94 to North Carolina the week before that. Will 42 years of magic push the Blue Devils over the Tech defense or will it be a final game for arguably the greatest coach in modern college basketball history?
Prediction:
Texas Tech is going to come out as the more loose team and will put on a clinic defensively against Duke in a night that will be fraught with all of the hype going to Duke and Coach K. Tech will get enough scoring and will be the villains who end the career of Coach K Thursday night in San Francisco.
Texas Tech 74 Duke 70
-Allen Corbin.
