SoCon Monster Game of the Week: Duke vs. Davidson

Duke is unbeatean and ranked number one in the country. They have beaten Kentucky, Louisville, and Ohio State when they were ranked in the Top Four in the country. That does not even count that they beat Minnesota by 18, who is now ranked in the Top Ten.

So, to say the least, this is a very good Duke team, that blew out a solid Temple team, and a good Elon team, and beat a solid Santa Clara team by 13 on Saturday.

Really, their season has been remarkable so far. There is simply no denying it.

Davidson, on the other hand, has been good at times, but has looked just OK other times. Still, their best performance of the year may have been their most recent one. On Saturday night, the Wildcats dominated the first half against Richmond, before giving it all back. Then the Wildcats Nik Cochran scored nine straight points to end the game and help the Wildcats win. It was the Wildcats best win to date, and it showed that maybe they are prepared to take on the Blue Devils and come up with a signature win for the SoCon.

The biggest question for the Wildcats will be how they guard Mason Plumlee. Plumlee (from the seemingly endless line of Plumlee's) is 6-10 and a senior. He is certainly among the top players in the country and up for every Player of the Year Award in the country. He is averaging 19.5 points per game on 63.8% shooting from the floor. He's also averaging 11.6 rebounds per game. He is also coming up with 1.6 blocks per contest. This guy is something else.

Of course, for Davidson, watching Seth Curry play for the Blue Devils will bring back fond memories of their own Steph Curry. Seth Curry has been very good. Curry is shooting 50% from the floor and 42% from three point range. He is averaging 17.1 points per contest.

The Blue Devils have three other players averaging in double figures, which is part of the reason they rank as the number two team in the country in offensive efficiency according to Pomeroy. Ryan Kelly averages 12.4 points per games (and 5.3 rebounds), Rasheed Sulaimon averages 12.2 points per game, and Quinn Cook averages 10.8 points per game (to go along with 5.9 assists and four rebounds per game).

The Blue Devils do not have anyone else that averages over 3.5 points per game, and only two other players average double figure minutes per contest. If the Wildcats can get the Blue Devils in foul trouble, getting into the Duke bench could make things interesting.

Davidson will obviously have their hands full inside with Plumlee inside, but Jake Cohen and De'Mon Brooks are capable of performing well in the lane. Brooks leads the team with 15.2 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per contest. He is the current leader in the SoCon Player of the Year race. Jake Cohen is averaging 12.7 points per game and 5.3 rebounds. Those two are both special players for the Wildcats and will need to be on top of their game to beat the Blue Devils.

The key to the game may be Chris Czerapowicz. He is the Wildcats best outside shooter. However, he has been struggling lately. He scored zero points in two different contests in the last five games, against both Charlotte and Richmond. Czerapowicz will probably not be able to score zero points and have the Wildcats win in this one. He will need to have one of the best games of his career.

The Wildcats struggles on the boards have been highly chronicled in this space and elsewhere this year. Duke is not a great rebounding team, though. So, maybe the Wildcats can do OK in this regard in this one. They will have to. Against Richmond, the Wildcats showed that they can, in fact, rebound. Will they do the same against Duke?

LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG

--Duke will outrebound Davidson by some margin.
--Plumlee will give the Wildcats trouble inside.
--The bigger problem will be Curry, though. The Wildcats perimeter defense is simply not good enough to contain the perimeter players the Blue Devils have.
--Czerapowicz will have a decent game, but not a tremendous game.
--Duke 81, Davidson 69. This may even be overly optimistic for the Wildcats. I just don't see how they pull off the upset here. Everything will have to go perfectly, and the team that showed up for the first half against Richmond will have to show up for the whole game in Charlotte. Yes, the Wildcats are solid competition for the Blue Devils, but Duke has been the best team in the country to this point. I would love to see Davidson pull the upset, but don't see how that works out.