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Last time out the Fighting Illini hung with the 2nd ranked team in the country for about ¾ of the game, before ultimately losing to Baylor 82-69. Center Kofi Cockburn had some foul trouble in that contest which he will need to clean up if the Illini hope to be successful tonight. The Illini will also need a bounce back effort from preseason all American guard Ayo Dosummu who struggled at times with the pressure and length that Baylor threw at him defensively. It won’t get any easier vs Duke who have plenty of rangy defenders at their disposal. One thing working in the Illini’s favor is that no crowd will be in attendance which means they won’t have to put up with the Cameron Crazies

As for Duke they are coming off a loss to Michigan State. They are a young team still looking to find themselves. They shoot 35.5% from downtown and 52.8% from 2pt range. The Devils are lead in scoring and rebounding by Sophomore Matthew Hurt who is averaging 19pts and 8.7 reb a game. He also shoots the 3 at a 56% clip. The Illini will need to identify where he is on the floor at all times. The Blue Devils have two other players who average double figures in Jalen Johnson at 13pts per game and DJ Steward at 11.3 pts per game.

The Illini will need to play a full 40 minutes, not just 30 like last time out to pick up a big victory tonight. Game time is 8:30pm on ESPN.

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