No. 3 Duke has played a number of stout opponents across the first chunk of the schedule. Next up for Jon Scheyer’s team is a neutral-site battle with No. 19 Texas Tech.
Scheyer doesn’t want the Blue Devils sleeping on the Red Raiders when they meet Saturday night in New York.
“It’s going to be as good of a team that we play,” Scheyer said.
Duke (11-0) will wrap up its nonconference schedule with its second game since a break for final exams. Texas Tech (8-3) has won four of its last five games.
“They’ve got a great roster, great coach, and you know this is going to be one of our toughest games the whole season,” Duke freshman standout Cameron Boozer said. “It’s an NCAA Tournament game for us, getting prepared for neutral-site games against really good teams. I’m just looking forward to having a great game as a team.”
Texas Tech is aiming to defeat a nationally ranked opponent for the first time this season. The Red Raiders have lost to Illinois, Purdue and Arkansas.
“How we win these games is you fight, you scrap, you compete,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said.
The Red Raiders will be the fifth nationally ranked opponent to meet Duke. One of the Blue Devils’ victories came against Arkansas.
Scheyer reached the 100-win mark this week when the Blue Devils defeated visiting Lipscomb 97-73. With a 100-22 record, he’s the fastest to 100 wins among any ACC men’s basketball coach in history.
There were glitches for the Blue Devils in the Lipscomb game. They trailed by 10 points in the first half and committed a season-high 22 turnovers.
“It’s something we’ve got to look at, be better,” said Boozer, who provided 26 points and 13 rebounds for his sixth double-double. “And (in) New York is a great chance to turn it around and bounce back.”
Scheyer said it was a lesson for the Blue Devils.
“This is an example, again, of how we need everybody ready to go,” he said.
Duke sophomore center Patrick Ngongba II turned in his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Texas Tech beat visiting Northern Colorado 101-90 on Tuesday, marking its highest-scoring game of the season. LeJuan Watts tallied 36 points, marking the first time he has led the Red Raiders in scoring.
Star big man JT Toppin has reached the 30-point level three times this season for Texas Tech while averaging 21.9 points per game. Christian Anderson has three double-doubles, each involving points and assists.
“They have two of the best players in the country,” Scheyer said.
But there are frustrations for the Red Raiders about their defense. They’ve allowed 73.9 points per game.
“Our fight isn’t what it needs to be on that end,” McCasland said. “It’s not a scheme issue — it’s an effort issue. We’ll go deeper in the bench. If it costs us offensively, it costs us.”
Texas Tech also has concerns about the status of Luke Bamgboye, who left the Northern Colorado game with a noncontact injury in the second half. McCasland said this week he doesn’t anticipate Bamgboye playing against Duke. He has averaged about 16 minutes per game in seven outings.
