Duke Blue Devils face Princeton Tigers in NCAA Basketball season opener Sunday
The Duke Blue Devils are early favorites to repeat their storied National Championship run of last year but they are a long way from Reliant Stadium in Houston as the season gets underway. Duke takes on the Princeton Tigers, early favorites in their own right to take down the Ivy League title.
The Princeton Tigers will not be a push over for the Duke Blue Devils. They are returning three starters, two juniors and one senior. Starting guards Doug Davis and Dan Mavaides make up the best back court in the Ivy League and one that can keep pace with some of the better teams in college basketball. Joining them is forward Patrick Saunders.
Davis and Mavaides led the Princeton Tigers in scoring. Davis averaged 31.3 points per game and shot for a 42.8 percent from the three point arch. Mavaides averaged 30.9 points per game but was not as deadly from the three point line at 35.6.
The Duke Blue Devils lose Jon Scheyer but they now have Stephen Curry’s brother Seth and Nolan Smith in their back court. Kyle Singlar will be the clutch scoring forward for the Blue Devils and watch out for Mason Plumlee to pick up the slack of the departed Zoubek.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski has a better team to start the season than he won with in April of 2010 but it will take some doing to mold them into a team. The Princeton Tigers should represent a good test for the team to test their mettle early in the season.
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