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Bradley at Duke

This Wednesday the No.1 Duke Blue Devils will host the Bradley Braves out of the Missouri Valley. The big story surrounding this game is the fact that Duke freshman point guard Kyrie Irving will likely not play in this game, thanks to a toe injury he suffered in the second half against Butler. The Blue Devils figures to have too much talent for the Braves to keep it close, but it will be interesting to see how this team looks without one of their best young players. Irving is averaging 17.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 5.1 assists a game this season.

The Blue Devils are led in scoring by senior guard Nolan Smith, who averages 18 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. Senior forward Kyle Singler  adds another 15.6 points and 5.4 rebounds a game, and could be asked to do a little more scoring with Irving out of the lineup. The injury to Irving could also create some more playing time for sophomore Seth Curry, who is averaging 7 points in just 17.6 minutes a game.

The Blue Devils have started the season a perfect 8-0 with wins over Kansas State, Oregon, Michigan State, and Butler. That is a pretty impressive start for the defending National Champions, and I don’t see any way they let Bradley make a game of it.

There is no question that the Braves are going to be excited for the chance to play the Blue Devils on their home court, but Duke is one of the toughest places in all of college basketball to play, and I think it will be too much for the Bradley players to come in and play well. The Braves started the season with four straight wins, including a 64-63 win over USC, but have lost their last four games, and also one of their best players in senior guard Sam Maniscalco, who is out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury.

Maniscalco was being picked to finish on the All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team, so you can see what kind of a loss this is for the Braves. Maniscalco was averaging 10 points, 3 rebounds, and a team best 4 assists per game. Fellow senior Andrew Warren has really looked good of late, scoring at least 22 points in each of the last four games, but it will be hard for Warren to have a huge game against the Blue Devils.