Duke vs Louisville: Gameday Open Thread

No. 3 Blue Devils take on No. 11 Cardinals

Duke, No. 3 in the AP poll, takes on No. 11 Louisville at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday evening. The ACC main event matchup attracted ESPN's College Gameday, which broadcast live from Cameron on Saturday morning.

Both teams are tied atop the ACC standings, at 5-1, along with Florida State, who pulled a half game ahead earlier in the day with an overtime win at Miami. Both have also spent time at No. 1 this season.

Louisville is 14-3 and has won three straight, against Miami and at Notre Dame and at Pitt. The two road wins were by a total of eight points with Pitt taking the Cardinals to overtime on Tuesday.

Duke is 15-2 and coming off an upset loss at Clemson on Tuesday, snapping a nine-game winning streak.

The Blue Devils were missing two players for the Clemson game--Wendell Moore Jr. and Joey Baker. Moore is recovering from surgery on a broken bone in his shooting hand and is out indefinitely. Baker was day-to-day following an ankle sprain in practice, but Duke announced on Saturday morning that Baker would return to the lineup for Louisville.

This is the first time Duke and Louisville have met since the Cardinals built a 23-point lead at Louisville last season, only to have the Blue Devils storm back for one of the biggest comeback wins in history.

Louisville is led by Jordan Nwora, the preseason ACC Player of the Year. He leads the conference in scoring at 20.4 ppg.

This game matches the No. 8 and 9 teams in the nation in field goal percentage defense. Louisville allows foes to shoot just .368, while Duke gives up .386.

Photographic proof that Joey Baker is suited up and ready to go. 

Recruiting news: Five-Star 2021 point guard Kennedy Chandler is expected to be in attendance. He’s also being chased by FSU, Tennessee, Michigan, Ole Miss, Arkansas & Kansas, among others 

Your officials for tonight: Ron Groover, John Gaffney and Jamie Luckie

Your starters: Matthew Hurt, Vernon Carey Jr, Cassius Stanley, Tre Jones, Jordan Goldwire 

it’s the 10th anniversary of Duke’s 2010 title, so alumni are here for the reunion 

Louisville very active trying to claw the ball away in the lane. We’ve had two held balls & several turnovers already. Duke fell prey to that early this season but had been tighter with ball security lately. 

Louisville up 7-5 at the under 16.

Duke seems to be trying to limit possessions & have Louisville work on defense. Blue Devils have already taken two possessions down to the shot clock buzzer. 

Louisville on a 8-1 run and getting into transition on Duke turnovers. Coach K gets time out but it’s 4-0 after that, Cards up 19-6

21-9 at under 12. Duke has 7 turnovers, Louisville 13-0 in points off TO

Refs are letting all contact go inside and Blue Devils have yet to adjust. This could get out of hand if they don’t soon 

Cassius Stanley tried to throw a pass while straddling    Darius Perry, who of course stood up. Joey Baker immediately got in his face & is ready to throw down. Time out while we sort this out. Louisville uo 25-14, under 8

Double technical is the call. No surprise 

As he often does, Baker gets Duke fired up. Louisville calls time after lead dwindles to 28-23. 5:02 left in the half 

Malik Williams hits a three at the buzzer to put Louisville up 10 at the half, 42-32. 

David Johnson killing Duke so far. He’s hit 7 of 8 for 17 points, negating the job Duke did shutting down Jordan Nwora who has just 3 shots & 2 points 

First half stats aren’t pretty. Duke shot 36 percent, Louisville 58.6. Louisville was perfect on four three attempts. Louisville up 15-7 in points off turnovers, 26-8 on points in paint. 12-5 on fast break, 28-2 on bench points  

Duke comes out of the locker room with the pressure d turned up. Blue Devils score the first 6 & have an 8-2 run (including a Cassius Stanley dream shake) before Louisville calls time. Lead is down to 44-40

Louisville responds. At the under 16, less is back to 49-42

Sutton drives the lane & gets stopped by Vernon Carey, who picks up his fourth foul. Duke down 9, 13:24 to go

Tre Jones threads the needle to find Stanley for a dunk. Time out Louisville. Lead is down to 58-55, Cameron has erupted. 

Duke is still struggling to hit shots but Blue Devils have controlled the offensive boards. Very workmanlike run 

Tre Jones with a steal, and Sutton found out hitting Hurt on a 3 attempt. Hurt hits them all to tie it. 8:46 to go 

Louisville responds with a 5-0 run to lead 63-58 at the under 8

They’ve apparently revised Sutton’s foul count after scoreboard & horn all had him fouling out. He has four and can apparently reenter the game 

Jones from 3 ties it again, at 63. Kimble immediately hits a 3 at the other end. Back & forth we go

Every time Duke gets close, Louisville responds. Latest run puts it at 71-65 at under 4 timeout 

Duke steal, 3 point play by Jones. Steal and layup by Goldwire. Back to a one point game. 

Louisville hits a pair of FTs, then Jones misses on back to back possessions. 73-70 Louisville with 43.5 seconds left 

Jack White gets a steal but Stanley airballs a three. Louisville to the line. 16 left 

Back to back turnovers by Duke should do it. Louisville with a big win, 79-73