Game of The Week: Week 4 February 2015

Patrick Diamond

Tweets by diamond_courant

With two of the best teams in college basketball squaring off on Saturday, there’s no question what you should be watching on Saturday. Top 2015 draft prospects Jahlil Okafor of the Duke Blue Devils and Jerian Grant of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will face off in this battle. This matchup between #4 Duke and #10 Notre Dame will be a close one and my 4th, game of the week.

The Duke Blue Devils have had a tremendous year so far, coming off of an impressive 69-63 win over the formerly 19-0 Virginia Cavaliers. Although they are 4-1 in games against teams in the top 25, they are 4-3 in the ACC, putting them 5th in the conference. They’ve fallen to weak in conference opponents Miami and NC State, but despite these losses, they’ve picked it up against the top 25 and have put themselves at number 4 in the country.

Meanwhile, the Notre Dame Fighting are also having an outstanding year, matching their best start since the 1978-79 season with a 21-3 record. They are tied for 1st in the ACC with Virginia, but UVA has the tiebreaker as they beat the Irish by a score of 62-56 on January 10th. Notre Dame’s conference record stands at an impressive 9-2 as they intend to improve to 4-1 against teams who are currently in the top 25.

Players to Watch:

Jahlil Okafor

Jahlil Okafor is without a doubt a top 3 candidate for the Wooden Award this year, given to the best basketball player in the nation. He averages just above 18 point per game and 9.3 rebounds. Okafor is an outstanding rebounder, as he already has 3 games this season with 15 or more rebounds, one of them being a 20 rebound game. Look for him to score 15 or more and put up 10 plus rebounds.

Jerian Grant

Another Wooden Award candidate and 2015 draft prospect is the 6’5 guard, Jerian Grant. He is not only leading the Irish with 17 points a game, but also in assists with just below 7 per game. Grant has performed well all year, his best game coming against #19 Michigan State where he put up 27 points and 8 rebounds. Look for him to make a difference in this game.

Prediction:

68-64 Duke

Although Notre Dame beat Duke in their previous matchup, you can’t deny the confidence that Duke has coming into this game, especially with the game being at Duke this time. Look for it to be a great game, but Duke will come out on top in this one.