After dismantling Yale in an 80-61 victory, No. 6 Duke will try to extend its NCAA-best 119-game nonconference winning streak Sunday against Utah State. The Blue Devils (5-1) are riding a three-game winning streak, while Utah State (4-0) has not lost this season, and is looking to build on an 81-55 victory against Utah Valley Tuesday. The Blue Zone takes a look at one player from each team who could be the difference in the game:
Duke: center Marshall Plumlee
Plumlee is a captain and has been an emotional leader of this team. He brings leadership and experience, and his hustle has made him one of Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s favorite players. Averaging 2.5 blocks and 1.2 steals per game, Plumlee makes a living on the defensive end and will look to do so again against the Aggies—a team that does not have a player listed taller than 6-foot-9.
The matchup against Utah State is a chance for Plumlee to build on his performance so far in the season. At 7-foot, Plumlee has a height advantage against Utah State's tallest defender, giving him the opportunity to build on his impressive average of 7.3 rebounds per game, which ranks second on the team. With perimeter players Grayson Allen and Matt Jones capable of knocking down the triple, Plumlee will have many opportunities to crash the offensive glass and get second-chance points off of long rebounds. On the other end of the court, the graduate student will need to rotate for help defense in time if the Aggies' guards are able to penetrate the Blue Devil defense.
Utah State: guard Chris Smith
Smith is one of four Utah State seniors helping to bring experience to a relatively young Aggies team. In the team's last victory, Smith had 17 points and six rebounds and the guard comes into the game as the leading scorer and rebounder for the Aggies.
Freshman Derryck Thornton will most likely match up on Smith, but Thornton is only listed at 6-foot-1, while Smith is listed at 6-foot-4. Look for the senior to use his height advantage to get good looks over Thornton and use his quickness to get around him, as Thornton isn’t the best man-to-man defender on the Duke roster. When Thornton exits the contest, either Grayson Allen or Matt Jones will likely switch onto Smith and hope to stop him from getting high-percentage looks.
One way to stop the Sacramento native is to send him to the foul line. On the season, Smith is only making 55-percent of his free throw attempts, and has yet to shoot higher than 70-percent from the line in a single game this season. Expect Duke to make Smith work for each and every one of his baskets Sunday.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.