Two of the top teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference will clash on Tuesday night when No. 20 Louisville hosts No. 6 Duke.
The Blue Devils (13-1, 2-0 ACC) are coming off a narrow four-point victory at Florida State in which they needed a career-best performance from sophomore wing Isaiah Evans to power them to a win. Evans knocked down six 3-pointers and went a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line on his way to scoring 28 points.
Duke has been led by freshman star Cameron Boozer this season, and he played well with 17 points, nine assists and four steals.
Evans is emerging as someone who can make game-winning plays for the Blue Devils.
“The moments that he had were huge,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said of Evans. “With him, I think it’s only a matter of time. … For him, the ability to get open without the ball, the ability to know when they’re flying at you, when you can drive — which he had some good drives tonight, versus shooting some tougher ones.”
Evans is averaging 13.4 points per game this season, up from his 6.8 average as a freshman. He’s also averaging more rebounds and assists per game in a starting role.
Boozer still drives the bus for the Blue Devils, averaging an ACC-best 23.0 points per game to go along with 9.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists. His brother Cayden has played well in spurts for Duke too, and he dished out six assists against Florida State.
Duke ranks 33rd nationally in assists per game with 18.3.
Louisville (11-3, 1-1) is coming off its first ACC loss of the season, falling on the road at Stanford on Friday.
It was a poor performance from the Cardinals defensively as they put Stanford on the free throw line 31 times, forced just nine turnovers, and allowed the home team to shoot 47.4% from 3-point range.
Those three things have been common themes for Louisville in its three defeats. In losses to Stanford, Arkansas and Tennessee, each team went to the free throw line at least 28 times, had 10 turnovers or fewer, and shot north of 33.0% from behind the arc. Stanford’s mark from deep was the highest the Cardinals have allowed an opponent to shoot this season.
“Can we do stuff better on the offensive end? Yes, and we’ll do that. But that wasn’t a problem (against Stanford),” Louisville coach Pat Kelsey said. “”We got punched in the mouth. It’s a tough loss.”
Like Kelsey said, offense hasn’t been a problem for the Cardinals. Louisville is 18th nationally in scoring with 90.4 points per game and fourth in 3-pointers made per game with 12.2.
Ryan Conwell averages 19.6 points per game, and seven Louisville players shoot better than 36% from behind the arc this season.
Injuries have been a concern for Louisville though.
Freshman Mikel Brown Jr. averages 16.6 points and 5.1 assists but has missed the last four games with a back injury and already has been ruled out for Tuesday.
Sixth-year forward Kasean Pryor hasn’t played for Louisville since Dec. 20. Kelsey said he “just hasn’t practiced much at all.”
