By Derek DeBurger
After a week off, Louisville will face the No. 10 Duke Blue Devils in Durham.
Wake Forest handed Duke an upset loss that ended in a court-storming, allegedly injuring star center Kyle Filipowski. Filipowski has said he’s sore with no major injury, but his availability for Wednesday’s game is still unclear.
Duke is still one of the most talented teams in the country without their top player. Outside of Filipowski, the Blue Devils have four players averaging double-digit points. While Duke may lose out on the inside presence Filipowksi provides, Louisville still struggles to score inside with or without him; without him, of course, would be significantly easier.
The Jan. 23 game between the two got very ugly before Louisville made it somewhat competitive for a brief stretch. Duke ultimately pulled away in a 14-point win. Louisville will need to play a much tighter game for a full 40 minutes to stay competitive on the road.
With four regular-season games left in the season, Louisville is one loss away from experiencing just the third 20-loss season in the 113-year history of the program.
At this point, it’s virtually impossible to avoid that ugly stain, but we can certainly hope for a miracle.
