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Duke stars preparing for an all-out ‘war’ in Elite Eight matchup vs. Alabama
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Duke and Alabama are gearing up for a marquee Elite Eight showdown on Saturday. As the top 2 seeds in the East Region, the winner will advance to the Final Four and the national semifinals.
As the top seed, Duke enters as a 7.5-point favorite per BetMGM while leading the latest national championship odds at +180. However, nobody on Duke’s roster is ready to take anything for granted this late in March Madness.
On Friday, Jon Scheyer’s squad was asked about their initial thoughts heading into the Elite Eight matchup. One common theme surfaced: This is going to be a war between elite teams.
“Man, we know it’s going to be a war. It’s going to be a battle, especially on the glass, so it’s going to be a physical game,” said big man Khaman Maluach. “So that comes to my mind when I think about that team.”
Sharpshooting senior Sion James followed suit and praised the way Nate Oats’s squad plays hard and described the impending game as one that’s “going to be a fight.” Kon Knueppel agreed with that assessment, describing the Tide as a “battle-tested” team out of the ultra-deep SEC.
“It’s going to be a war. It’s just going to be a war,” admitted Tyrese Proctor while Cooper Flagg said he has nothing to add.
A specific question was then directed at Knueppel, asking if Duke has faced a team similar in any way to Alabama so far this season. The 2nd-leading scorer admitted the Crimson Tide are a bit unique in the way they go about things and attack the opposition.
“I don’t think a lot of teams play like Alabama does. Obviously they have the fastest pace in the country, so I don’t think I could point out one team that plays like them,” Knueppel conceded.
Be sure to check out the latest March Madness odds ahead of tip-off, and grab the top betting apps to get into the action.
Offensively, both Duke and Alabama are among the top teams in the country per KenPom. We’ll see who gets the upper hand and survives to play in the Final Four.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
