Gameday Preview – #3 Duke Hosts Stanford – Sat Feb 15th 2025

The Duke Blue Devils (21-3, 13-1 ACC) play host to ACC newcomer Stanford Cardinal (16-9, 8-6 ACC). The #3 Blue Devils look to continue their undefeated home season with only 3 home games left on the season.

The Blue Devils got back on track on Wednesday night against the California Golden Bears (12-13, 5-9 ACC). The Blue Devils controlled the game from the tip and led wire to wire finishing with a 21 point victory 78-57 . Cooper Flagg scored 27 on the night to lead the Blue Devils as Tyrese Proctor added 18 points going 50% from the arc. Head Coach Jon Scheyer was able to experiment with different lineups and get different players experience playing with each other. The Blue Devils played 11 players with 9 players clocking in over 10 minutes.

The Stanford Cardinal are coming into Cameron Indoor Stadium after a loss to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (12-13, 6-8 ACC). The Cardinal, who were once on the bubble, have lost 3 of their last 4 games after a mini four game win streak. The story of this matchup was Stanford star Maxime Raynaud was held to only 8 points, going 4-13 from the field after averaging a team-high 20 points on the season. Duke transfer Jaylen Blakes returned to the Stanford lineup after missing the two previous games with injury. He was the Cardinal lone double digit scorer and finished with 12 points.

Key Points

Duke

• Get the bench involved. Since Mason Gillis missed last week’s games and the bench left with him. The Blue Devils mustered 9 bench points against Cal, and 5 against Clemson.
• Avoid complacency- The Blue Devils are 20 point favorites but the Cardinal have the ability to pull the upset. Wooden Award watch player Maime Raynaud was stifled against the Yellow Jackets and will be looking for a breakout performance. Transfer Jaylen Blakes played at Duke so Cameron will not be too big for him. 
• Focus on the interior. The Blue Devils have been sharp from the perimeter all season as Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, and Tyrese Proctor have shown to be proven talent from the arc. What happens when these shots do not fall in March? The Blue Devils need to develop an offensive approach in the paint. They have the size in Khaman Maluach and Patrick Ngongba but they have not emerged as a weapon on offense. 

Stanford

• Sell out for a Quad-1 win. The Cardinal have fallen to #80 in the Net rankings and are 2-5 in Quad 1 games this season. The Blue Devils sit at #2 in the Net and #3 in the AP so a victory in Cameron will be a splash win that can get the Cardinal back in the tournament conversation
• Maxime Raynaud needs to have an average to above average game. The Cardinal do not stand a chance against the Blue Devils if Maxime only scores 8. He will need to pull in a 20 point double-double for Stanford to survive. 
• Make 3’s. The Cardinal were an abysmal 18% from the arc on Wednesday going 5-27. The Cardinal will need to double that total to stay in the game.