The Duke Blue Devils took a step in the right direction this past Saturday when they defeated N.C. State with a stellar second half effort.  Duke must now face Miami tonight mere hours after that win on the road in a hostile environment with the ticket being the hottest thing in town.

To give you an idea of what Miami is capable of, they defeated Utah by 24 earlier this season, a team that took down Duke in New York. The Hurricanes are an older team while Duke leans heavily on freshman.  Miami is an athletic, quick and are a guard heavy team.

While Duke is perimeter oriented as well, the Hurricane guards are more traditional ball handling types.  Miami starts the engine with the solid duo of Shelden McClellan and Angel Rodriquez., two guards who've been through the ACC wars.  Then there is Ja'Quan Newton and Davon Reed who round out their four double-digit scorers who are also outside oriented players.

Miami is also anchored by the athletic Tonye Jekeri in the middle who will present a challenge for Marshall Plumlee with no Amile Jefferson as his sidekick.  The Hurricanes also go to their bench much more often than can Duke where they play four other players I have not mentioned double-digit minutes.  In short, they are tailored made to give the undermanned Blue Devils fits.

The Hurricanes will likely concentrate their defensive efforts on Grayson Allen who had a stellar performance at N.C. State.  Allen has become one of the clear Duke leaders this season but he will need the help of his teammates in this game if Duke is to pull an upset.

Marshall Plumlee will as always, need to stay out of foul trouble and his teammates will need to help with rebounding in a game against a team that is quick to loose balls.  Plumlee has had a solid senior season and has shouldered a lot of responsibility in the paint.  And teams are taking it to the basket on Duke after seeing others success in doing so.

This game will also be another road test for fellow freshman guards Luke Kennard and Deryck Thornton.  Kennard has been the most consistent of these two players and is depended on as one of the Blue Devils three main scoring options.  Thornton will be heavily depended on in this game due to match ups.

While Matt Jones nailed two very critical three-point shots in the win over N.C. State, his game has been a little off of late.  Jones needs to be more than jump shooter in this game and he is at his best when he mixes it up a but more.  His defense has been solid, but his offense of late has turned into simply jump shots.

The bottom line here is that this is a tough game for Duke where they have been tabbed the underdog.  Even some of the deeper Duke teams past have on occasion been defeated soundly on trips to Florida.  And this Duke team is still learning one another.

Duke is capable of coming together and winning this game but it will take mental and physical toughness and forty minutes of effort.  The Blue Devils have struggled with turnovers in ACC play and cutting down on those this evening  would work wonders.

The Blue Devils will need to get back on defense in this game while trying to push Miami off the three point stripe.  Duke will also need to hit their free throw opportunities while chasing down rebounds and loose balls.

The Blue Devils have lost some tough, close games.  Perhaps tonight they can flip the scenario.  The game tips at 7:00 on ESPN.