By: Ben McCormick
November 23, 2022
The No. 8 Duke Blue Devils traveled to Portland, Ore., for the Phil Knight Invitational (PK85) that begins tomorrow, Nov. 24—or Thanksgiving.
The PK85 consists of 16 teams broken up into two 8 team brackets. The two brackets will not intermingle at all, which means there's no chance of a premature Duke/UNC showdown. Still, the Blue Devils find themselves in the midst of many formidable foes. Duke's first game will be a matchup with Oregon State. Depending on the outcome of that game, they will play the winner/loser of the Xavier/Florida game also being played tomorrow. On the other side of the bracket No. 6 Gonzaga will play host team Portland State. No. 24 Purdue will matchup with West Virginia in a quarter-final matchup as well.
Here's a look at the bracket (note that all times are pacific time on the bracket, so to all east coast fans, push those times back three hours).
Duke vs. Oregon State
Thursday Nov. 24 @ 3 p.m. ET on ESPN
The matchup with Oregon State should be an easy one for the Blue Devils. The Beavers were an abysmal 3-28 a season ago. However, at 3-1, they have already matched their win total from last season. Their first loss of the season came to Portland State this past Saturday, Nov. 19, by a score of 79-66. Portland State, another team in the PK85, was one of the three teams Oregon State beat in 2021-2022. Alas, they were not able to repeat the same success this season. The Beavers trailed nearly wire to wire against Portland State, and none of their three wins are particularly impressive either (three-point win over Tulsa; 17 point win over Florida A&M; and a blowout win over Bushnell, a NAIA school—essentially division II).
Duke, who is ranked 10th by KenPom's statistical ranking system, should have quite the advantage over the 243rd ranked Beavers.
Expect Duke to try to get recent returnees Dariq Whitehead and Dereck Liveky more involved offensively in hopes to sharpen their games in preparation for the later rounds of the tournament. With the two of them at full capacity, Duke will have a stellar nine man rotation at its disposal.
Still, you can never look past an opponent. The Beavers will be every bit as hungry as Duke will.
Second Day Matchup vs. Xavier/Florida
With a win: Friday Nov. 25 @ 3 p.m. ET on ESPN
With a loss: Friday Nov. 25 @ 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPNU
Win or lose on Thursday, Duke will play either Xavier or Florida on Friday. My guess is they will win Thursday and matchup with Xavier, so I'll begin with the Musketeers.
Former Arizona head coach, Sean Miller, is now at the helm for Xavier. The Musketeers started the season off 3-0 before hosting No. 11 Indiana last Friday Nov. 18. They fell 81-79 in a hard fought battle. It is for this reason that they cannot be taken lightly.
The Musketeers are led in scoring by senior seven-footer Jack Nunge with 17 PPG. Senior forward Zach Freemantle leads the team in rebounding and assists (over seven boards and just at five assists per game), while averaging 15.5 PPG. Needless to say, this matchup would provide some challenges for the young Blue Devils defensively in the paint. Lively and Kyle Filipowski would really be pushed against the Musketeers formidable frontcourt.
Then there's Florida. The Gators are 3-1 as well, suffering their only loss of the season to Florida Atlantic 76-74. Preseason, Florida was regarded as a tournament team, but have not started quite as well as they would have liked. Still, a trip to Portland may change that for the Gators. They are led in scoring and rebounding (both by quite a large margin) by senior big man Colin Castleton who averages a whopping 25.3 PPG and solid 8.8 RPG through four games.
Third Day Matxhup vs. No. 6 Gonzaga/No. 24 Purdue/West Virginia/Portland State
With Day 1 Win and Day 2 Win: Sunday Nov. 27 @ 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC
With Day 1 Win and Day 2 Loss: Sunday Nov. 27 & 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
With Day 1 Loss and Day 2 Win: Sunday Nov. 27 time TBD
With Day 1 Loss and Day 2 Loss: Sunday Nov. 27 time TBD
If things hold to form without upsets, Duke will find themselves playing the sixth-ranked team in the country who was a number one seed last season—again. Gonzaga has already suffered its first defeat of the season as well, to No. 4 Texas by nearly 20 points. They followed up the loss with just as decisive of a win over No. 15 Kentucky in Spokane. The Zags have also knocked off No. 12 Michigan State in a 1-point win. Duke could potentially be the Zags fifth top-25 matchup of the season already. Duke would have their hands full in this heavyweight battle. Gonzaga's experience is something Duke can't match, and the Blue Devils would have to have a hot shooting night to down the Zags. Still, the young Blue Devils have a lot of talent and will provide quite the challenge for Gonzaga who may have the more difficult second round matchup (if it is Purdue).
Guarding Drew Timme will be a concern for Duke. He has the ability to stretch the floor, and he has amazing footwork in the post. Last season, Duke's frontcourt duo of Paolo Banchero and Mark Williams were able to contain Timme, but there is concern over whether Filipowski and Lively can do the same.
If Duke does not play Gonzaga, they may find themselves matched with Purdue, who will provide a similar frontcourt challenge with Zach Edey. The 7'4 center is averaging 20.7 PPG and 13.7 RPG for the Boilermakers so far this season. His physical imposition would be tough for the skinny Lively to handle.
You're probably noticing a common theme. Many of these teams have great fromtcourts. Much of Duke's success will rely greatly on the defensive prowess of its frontcourt.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there, and I hope you enjoy this week that is stuffed with college basketball headliners!
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