The Duke Blue Devils are taking on the Pittsburgh Panthers on Monday night on ESPN in an ACC college basketball matchup and the game is streaming at 7 pm from the Petersen Events center and has two top ranked teams going at it from the same conference and the schools only have three combined losses within the ACC as they battle on Monday.
The Blue Devils have slumped a bit since starting off the season in the top 10 and now they are ranked 17th in the nation with a 16-4 record and they are 5-2 in the ACC this season. The Blue Devils are coming into the game after a blowout win against Florida State and that game saw phenom Jabari Parker grab 14 rebounds, while Rodney Hood had 18 points to lead the way and they are going up against a Pitt team that has lost just two games all season and one of those was in the ACC.
The Blue Devils have a tough matchup coming up next with Syracuse and they would love to get a win at home before playing the number two ranked Orange at the Carrier Dome and that game comes on Saturday night and has two of the most decorated coaches and teams in the NCAA with Jim Boeheim and Mike Krzyzewski facing off. Duke has been playing well since an early loss in ACC play to Clemson and now they have won four straight games in the conference as they head into the toughest part of their schedule, as they have two games against Syracuse and North Carolina coming up.
Check here for the ESPN college basketball coverage for Duke and Pittsburgh.
Duke comes into the game as one of the best offensive teams in the nation and they are shooting near 50 percent and are averaging over 80 points per game to rank 21st in the country. The team is 179th in rebounding, but they are in the top half in assists and they also are allowing just 66 points per game and are also averaging over seven steals per contest this season with Parker in the fold and he has been as good as advertised as a freshman.
Parker and Andrew Wiggins will push each other as the possible top picks in the NBA draft next season and Pitt comes into the game playing very well and while they lost a close game against Syracuse two weeks ago, they have won two straight since then and they have been impressive moving the ball, ranking 10th in the nation in assist per game.
