Duke hosts Syracuse Monday night at 7 p.m. hoping to snap its second two-game losing streak in as many years against a team that has won two straight. The Blue Devils have played as well as anyone in the country offensively, but will hope to overcome a lack of depth and improve on the defensive end to come away with a win. Here are the three keys to the game:
Win the defensive glass
Syracuse takes the 14th most 3-pointers in the country, which should ease things for the Duke frontcourt after being outmuscled in the paint the last two games. But as was apparent against the Fighting Irish, defensive rebounding is still a problem for the team, as the Blue Devils gave up 16 offensive rebounds to Notre Dame, including a game-ending board on a missed free throw with four seconds remaining.
Freshman Chase Jeter, in particular, needs to improve on the boards. In his limited minutes, the forward has looked lost defensively and frequently fouled opponents after getting boxed out. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski may opt to use sophomore Sean Obi, who grabbed an impressive board over two defenders on one play in the first half against the Fighting Irish.
Stay out of foul trouble
This is going to be especially important given the quick two-day turnaround for the Blue Devils. After surviving foul trouble against Wake Forest, Duke has not been as lucky in back-to-back losses to Clemson and Notre Dame—games in which freshman Brandon Ingram picked up four fouls early in the contest.
The Blue Devils will need graduate student Marshall Plumlee to improve defensively without fouling as he did against Virginia Tech, when he committed just one foul and held junior forward Zach LeDay to just two first-half points. The more the starters play, the less Duke exposes its limited depth with Obi still unproven and Jeter still struggling.
Shoot the 3-ball well
It was somewhat of an anomaly that the Blue Devils lost Saturday to Notre Dame despite their 3-point shooting. In fact, the team's ability to connect from deep kept them in the game. Even if Duke can get defensive stops and bring in rebounds, they’ll still need to generate offense, and the offense has largely operated through the perimeter this season.
Putting up 91 points against a conference opponent is normally enough to come away with a win. But the Blue Devils might have a tough time reaching that mark Monday against Jim Boeheim's 2-3 zone defense. Syracuse’s 3-point defense is ranked 12th in the nation, meaning one of the nation's best offenses might not be able to buy long-range buckets as easily.
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