Key Three: Duke basketball vs Notre Dame

<p>Center Marshall Plumlee was one of three Blue Devil big men to finish with at least four fouls Wednesday as  Clemson overtook Duke down the stretch.</p>

Center Marshall Plumlee was one of three Blue Devil big men to finish with at least four fouls Wednesday as Clemson overtook Duke down the stretch.

The Blue Devils will look to bounce back from their first conference loss Saturday when they host Notre Dame. After blowing a 12-point first half lead against Clemson, Duke will look to get off to a fast start and use the energy of its home crowd to stay ahead. Here are three keys to the game: 

Defend well from downtown

If there is one thing that the Fighting Irish do particularly well, it is shoot efficiently—especially behind the 3-point line. As a team, they have knocked down nearly 50 percent of their field goal attempts this season and are knocking down 39 percent of their shots from downtown. So what does that mean in defending a Notre Dame squad that gets more than 30 percent of its total scoring from long-range?

For the Blue Devils, their top priority Saturday needs to be ensuring that the Fighting Irish don't host a 3-point party of their own at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Last weekend against Virginia Tech, Duke made 9-of-24 threes while holding its opponent to just one triple in 12 attempts. With Notre Dame's Demetrius Jackson, Steve Vasturia, V.J. Beachem and Matt Ryan all capable of hitting 3-point shots, the Blue Devils must be aware of their opponents' major threat.

Stay out of foul trouble

One thing the two teams on the floor Saturday afternoon certainly share in common is a short bench. Since Amile Jefferson's foot injury, the Duke rotation has been limited to essentially seven players. Fighting Irish head coach Mike Brey has yet to deal with any major injury issues, but still has used a predominantly six-man rotation of the aforementioned four as well as big men Zach Auguste and Bonzie Colson. 

Given the limited resources for both squads, but particularly the Blue Devils, fouls are going to be a crucial issue in the game. In its first ACC loss of the season to Clemson Wednesday night, Duke found itself in quite the predicament. With a little more than 10 minutes remaining, Marshall Plumlee, Brandon Ingram and Chase Jeter all had picked up four fouls. Two minutes later, Jeter was tagged with his fifth and disqualified, forcing the other two to play soft defense on the Tigers for the final eight minutes and allowing the hosts to pull off the upset. Although Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski has been reluctant to stick with Duke's usual man-to-man defense at times this season, he needs to trust his big guys to stay out of foul trouble.

Win the free throw battle

An anomaly from the Wednesday night loss was the Blue Devils' inability to get to the free throw line. Duke took just seven free throws and made only two—both far below its season averages of 28 attempts per game on nearly 76 percent shooting. As much as the Blue Devil offense is predicated on efficient 3-point shooting, it is also keyed by drives to the basket, knowing that everyone is capable of hitting the free throws that ensue.

After generating nearly a quarter of its scoring offense from the charity stripe entering the game, Duke hit 10 less free throws than the Tigers on the night. With Notre Dame visiting Saturday afternoon, the Blue Devils need to flip the script entirely. If Duke can get to the line often, it will earn some much-needed easy points against a disciplined Fighting Irish defense that allows only 68.3 points per game to its opponents.


Mitchell Gladstone | Sports Managing Editor

Twitter: @mpgladstone13

A junior from just outside Philadelphia, Mitchell is probably reminding you how the Eagles won the Super Bowl this year and that the Phillies are definitely on the rebound. Outside of The Chronicle, he majors in Economics, minors in Statistics and is working toward the PJMS certificate, in addition to playing trombone in the Duke University Marching Band. And if you're getting him a sandwich with beef and cheese outside the state of Pennsylvania, you best not call it a "Philly cheesesteak." 

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