No. 5 Duke, rest of talented ACC heads into league play
RALEIGH, N.C. — Duke started the men’s college basketball season as the nation’s topranked team and Atlantic Coast Conference favorite. Yet as the start of league play arrives, little has gone to plan for the fifthranked Blue Devils.
And that could make for an interesting race for the ACC regular-season crown with No. 8 North Carolina, No. 10 Louisville and No. 12 Virginia lurking.
It’s been a challenge for the Blue Devils (12-1) to keep their talented freshman class healthy, with Jayson Tatum (sprained foot), Marques Bolden (lower leg injury), Harry Giles (knee procedure) missing multiple games. And that has meant coach Mike Krzyzewski’s visions of “hellacious, five-on-five” battles in practice haven’t materialized.
Then there’s junior guard Grayson Allen, now indefinitely suspended after tripping an Elon player Wednesday night — the third incident for him in the past 12 months. Duke’s next game is its league opener on New Year’s Eve at Virginia Tech, and Krzyzewski said on Thursday’s “Dan Patrick Show” that Allen “won’t play until I feel good about the entire situation where he is at.”
“Overall our guys have done great,” Krzyzewski said after the win over Elon. “But we’re more in October mode than December, because the mistakes we make now are public or against teams that really can beat you. When you play exhibitions and stuff like that in October and early November, they don’t show up as much.”
The Tar Heels (11-2), returning veterans from last year’s team that won the ACC title and made it to the NCAA final, have looked like Duke’s strongest contender. They won the Maui Invitational and lost a 103-100 thriller against No. 6 Kentucky, and they soon could have versatile swingman Theo Pinson — possibly the team’s top perimeter defender — back from preseason foot surgery.
UNC opens ACC play Saturday at Georgia Tech.
“Last year around this time, we started buying into the defensive end,” junior point guard Joel Berry II said, “so hopefully when we come back from break we can pick it up on the defensive end a little bit more.”
There’s no questioning the preconference resume of Louisville’s Cardinals (11-1), who have beaten No. 15 Purdue and Kentucky with their only loss coming against No. 4 Baylor in the Battle 4 Atlantis title game.
They get a chance to ease into ACC play. Louisville’s league opener comes Wednesday against Virginia, followed by a nonconference game against No. 16 Indiana and then a trip to No. 25 Notre Dame.