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The Sports Network
Durham, NC (Sports Network) - The seventh-ranked Blue Devils will look to keep
up the race for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference as they host the
Miami-Florida Hurricanes for a bout at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
This will be the 18th meeting in the all-time series. Duke has a 15-2 record
against Miami after its 81-71 victory on Feb. 13th, 2011 in the last
encounter.
Miami comes into tonight's game with a 13-7 overall record after it took down
the Maryland Terrapins 90-86 in a double-overtime thriller on Wednesday. The
victory was the third in a row and the fourth in five games. The Hurricanes
have been playing well on the offensive end as of late, as they have not been
held under 40 percent shooting in six games. Miami pulled down a season-high
43 rebounds in the win over Maryland. Miami has outscored its opponents by an
average of 4.7 ppg this season so far. Head coach Jim Larranaga will face a
tough challenge, as he is taking his squad that is carrying a 3-5 road record
into one of the toughest atmospheres in college basketball.
Larranaga will look to Malcolm Grant, Durand Scott, Kenny Kadji, and Reggie
Johnson to push past the Blue Devils in this one. All four of the mentioned
Hurricanes are carrying double-digit scoring averages with Grant leading the
pack with 13.3 ppg. Scott is the team's second leading scorer after he poured
in 24 points in the team's win over Maryland. Kadji had been unstoppable as of
late, averaging 18.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game in his last
three outings, but he was absent from the lineup versus the Terrapins after a
head injury he suffered during practice. Johnson provides size up front and
scores just over 10 ppg and also is reeling in a team-best 6.5 rpg.
Mike Krzyzewski has yet another talented Duke squad on his hands as his team
is near the top of both the conference and national rankings. The Blue Devils
have won three straight and in six of their last seven outings. Duke improved
to 19-3 overall and 6-1 in league play with a 75-60 decision over Virginia
Tech on Thursday night. The Blue Devils shot 44.4 percent from three-point
range and committed a season-low seven turnovers to push past the Hokies their
last time out. Duke has been one of the best in ACC action this year, as they
are outscoring their conference rivals by an average of 8.6 points per
contest.
The Blue Devils' balanced attack is highlighted by its blue chip freshman
Austin Rivers. The rookie guard is leading the team with 14.3 points per
contest on 44.6 percent shooting from the field. Mason Plumlee is averaging
just under a double-double with 11.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Ryan
Kelly and Seth Curry both made solid contributions off the bench in the team's
win over Virginia Tech. Kelly netted 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the
field while Curry contributed 11 points in 23 minutes of action.
The Sports Network