Count on Duke, Irish to fill up the buckets

Duke travels to South Bend, Ind., on Wednesday for its ACC opener against Notre Dame, the first time the Blue Devils will take the floor after announcing they had canceled their remaining nonconference games.

Though the Fighting Irish are committing more turnovers than usual — they’ve ranked in the top 10 of the nation in fewest turnovers on a per-possession basis each of the past six seasons — they have made up for it by ranking 20th in the country in team 3-point shooting percentage at 41.6. Prentiss Hubb leads the way with 15 made 3s.

Duke has not been shooting at the same rate, making 32.7 percent of its 3s. The good news for the Blue Devils is that their fatal flaw — five players average at least two turnovers per game — likely won’t be exposed by a Notre Dame defense that is forcing 9.5 turnovers per game, the fifthfewest among Division I programs.

The Blue Devils also should get help on the offensive end from Notre Dame being far from stout on the glass, ranking 192nd in defensive rebound rate. This should allow Duke plenty of second-chance opportunities on offense.

With both teams ranking outside the top 100 in points allowed on a per possession basis on defense and the Fighting Irish being in the bottom 70 among Division I teams, points should not be difficult to come by, especially with Duke being in the top 30 percent of the country in total possessions per game. THE PLAY: DukeNotre Dame total, Over 147.5 points.

Greg Peterson handicaps college basketball for VSiN.com