Miami @ Duke preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 15, 2018 ) Duke 83, Miami-Florida 75

Second-ranked Duke suffered another loss without forward Zion Williamson (sprained knee) Tuesday, falling to Virginia Tech 77-72 to run the team's record to 1-2 without its star freshman. The Blue Devils are hoping to regroup with consecutive games at home against Miami on Saturday and Wake Forest on Tuesday after a challenging stretch in which they played six games in 18 days -- four versus ranked teams.

"Our guys played hard, man, they played hard and tough and we just lost a real tough game," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski told reporters after the Virginia Tech setback. "We've got to get back and get refreshed. That six-game stretch was going to be tough no matter what. Especially with four of the games being Saturday-Tuesday away games, it's just an unusual thing. And when you lose Zion right in the middle then it escalates. Overall, my team has done an outstanding job. We will move forward now. We learned a lot." One thing the Blue Devils learned is, with or without Williamson, whose return remains up in the air, they still can't hit from outside consistently and they rank 329th in the nation through games of Feb. 28 in 3-point field goal percentage (30.7). That inefficiency proved costly in their four losses as the Blue Devils managed just 29 makes in 116 long-distance attempts against Gonzaga (5-of-13), Syracuse (9-of-43), North Carolina (8-of-39) and Virginia Tech (7-of-21). The Hurricanes have the ability to hit from the perimeter but they have struggled to maintain their play from start to finish of games, as evidenced by their heartbreaking 76-75 loss to Wake Forest on Tuesday when they missed their final 10 shots, but Jim Larranaga's troops have played the top teams in the conference tough on the road, putting scares into both North Carolina and Virginia.

TV: 4 p.m. ET, CBS

ABOUT MIAMI (12-15, 4-11 ACC): The Hurricanes rely far more on their outside game than the Blue Devils and they are led by 5-7 guard Chris Lykes, who ranks seventh in the ACC in scoring (16.9 ppg) after drilling a career-high six 3-pointers in a 26-point effort against Wake Forest, the 10th time this season that he went for at least 20. Senior guard Anthony Lawrence continues to come on strong with back-to-back double-doubles and three in the last six games, including a 14-point, 12-rebound effort in the loss to Wake Forest. The Hurricanes are undermanned and undersized, going mainly with a four-guard lineup, but they do get solid production from their big man, with senior center Ebuka Izundu averaging 10.6 points and a team-high 8.6 boards per game.

ABOUT DUKE (24-4, 12-3): The Blue Devils' recent losses damaged their chances of earning the ACC regular-season title as they sit behind North Carolina and Virginia in the conference race. The Hurricanes have three seniors in their starting lineup while the Blue Devils are going with youth as their top four scorers -- R.J. Barrett (ACC-high 23.3 ppg), Williamson (21.6), Cam Reddish (14.1) and Tre Jones (8.6) -- are freshmen. Krzyzewski also added another frosh to the mix as he pulled the redshirt off forward Joey Baker a week ago in hopes of adding some outside punch while sophomore Alex O'Connell, who is hitting 40.3 percent of his 3-point shots, was moved into the starting lineup with Williamson out.

TIP-INS

1. Duke owns a 19-7 series advantage, including a 9-2 mark against Miami at home.

2. Lykes has scored at least 20 points in all six games this season against schools from the state of North Carolina.

3. Barrett needs 43 points to tie Duke's freshman scoring record set last season by Marvin Bagley III (694).

PREDICTION: Duke 82, Miami 74