The Blue Devils take on the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech at 7:00 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Before every basketball game, we’ll break down a player on each team who could be the difference-maker in the upcoming contest.
Duke: forward Rodney Hood
In Saturday’s road loss to Notre Dame, leading scorer Jabari Parker could not find a rhythm, only scoring seven points and shooting only 20.0 percent from the field. One major reason why the Blue Devils kept the game close was Hood. He dropped 27 points, one shy of his season-high, sunk five 3-point shots and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. If Duke is going to emerge victorious in tough ACC match-ups, Parker is going to need an outlet when teams focus on locking him down. Hood has proved he can put up big points and must show opposing teams that Parker isn’t the only major weapon the Blue Devils have. Look for Hood to follow up Saturday’s performance in his first ACC game in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Georgia Tech: guard Trae Golden
The Tennessee-transfer is leading the Yellow Jackets in scoring this season with 12.9 points per game and is at the helm of a struggling offense that is only shooting 44 percent from the field this season. Georgia Tech has posted a 3-2 record during its last five games. In the three wins Golden has averaged 17.3 points per game, while only scoring nine points per game in two losses to Maryland and Vanderbilt. Golden is also turning the ball over at a rate of 2.4 times per contest, compared to 3.5 assists per game. For the ratio to be truly golden he will need to cut down on his mistakes and be efficient at distributing the ball.
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