With the two teams combining for 45 turnovers, most would consider Duke's 74-63 loss to Georgia Tech Wednesday to be an overall ugly game.
Duke's matchup against Miami (9-8, 2-1 in the ACC), however, has the potential to show that everything is relative.
The game-Sunday at 5 p.m. at the BankUnited Center-features the two lowest scoring teams in the ACC as the No. 11 Blue Devils (13-3, 0-2) attempt to avoid getting off to an 0-3 start in conference play.
"We're not used to [losing], and we don't want to become used to it," sophomore Greg Paulus said after Wednesday's loss. "We don't like this feeling."
While Duke is looking to bounce back from its recent struggles, the Hurricanes are coming off perhaps their best win of the season, a 63-58 victory at No. 25 Maryland Wednesday. Miami beat the Terrapins despite its own offensive struggles by holding Maryland to 22 percent shooting.
The Hurricanes are off to a 2-1 start in conference play after earning the unwanted mantle as the only ACC team not to have a winning record in its non-league slate . Miami suffered bad losses against low-major squads like Binghamton, Buffalo and Cleveland State. Yet, the Hurricanes' two ACC wins have come against ranked teams-then-No. 21 Georgia Tech Dec. 3 and at Maryland Wednesday.
Miami has been hampered by the loss of Anthony King, who has missed the last nine games with an injured wrist and will likely be out for the season. King, a senior, was expected to be one of the top big men in the league and had been averaging 7.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game before the injury.
"It's been tough for us all year," Miami head coach Frank Haith said. "[King] is a senior leader, and he was going to be our go-to guy in the post from an offensive standpoint and anchor our defense. And since losing Anthony King we have not been consistent on either end of the floor."
With King out, the Hurricanes have had to redefine their identity as a team. After losing high-scoring guards Robert Hite and Guillermo Diaz to the NBA, Miami expected to display an inside-out offensive attack with King at the core. But since the big man's injury, the Hurricanes have again had to rely heavily on their guards-the team's top four scorers are all perimeter players, including sophomore Jack McClinton, the ACC's fifth-leading scorer.
Duke is also attempting to find its offensive identity as the Blue Devils have not scored more than 80 points in a game since their opener and have racked up 70 points or fewer in four of their last five games.
"We have a real young team," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We've got eight scholarship guys that are healthy right now and four of them are freshmen. We've got to find a way to win with that combination, and that's what my job is supposed to be, so that's what I'm going to do."
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