Every game feels big this season because making the NCAAs is not assured. This is our first chance for a quadrant 1 win (I assume ND is not top 75).

Based on everything I am reading, here and elsewhere, they seem strong where we are weak or they counter our strengths really well:
-The clean up the defensive glass and we've been using offensive rebounding to fuel our offense
-They allow a high % of 3 point shooting but we haven't been shooting it that well
-They get to the line a ton, and we don't
-They are a nice offensive machine and our defense has been bad over these past 2 games

So it doesn't really feel like we are in a position to go up to Blacksburg and win. But, that's why they play the games and we've certainly got enough firepower on both ends to win this game. My quick scan of the advanced metrics makes this feel like an even match-up. The size match-up is also even...aside from Mark Williams, both teams feature (per DBA's preview above) a small ball frontline and pretty diminutive backcourts. The betting line is Duke -1.5 which naturally plays into Duke having the bigger brand name and all of that, trying to pull that square money to bet Duke, but it feels like most of the world sees VTech as a slight favorite.

What I am looking for:
-Can we clean up our turnovers?
-Can Hurt win his match-up with Aluma (regardless of whether they guard each other, which guys will have the more effective overall game)
-Can we run them off the 3-point line? When we do, will it turn into a lay-up line/foul fest/drive-and-kick barrage as we aggressively contest, they blow by to the hoop and we are in defensive rotation?
-Can we use Mark Williams? Can he give us an advantage with his size or will he be unable to guard in their spread perimeter offense?
-Wither Jalen Johnson? I feel like we see him tonight and it feels like we'll need him even if the expectations are not high since he hasn't seen game action in a month. We'll need his help on the glass alone, which reminds me...
-Brake, this is the game we need you to show some of the form that's been missing these past few games. Freshman are inconsistent and you have had 2 meh games. We need a good one tonight.
-This is a great test for our 3-headed monster of Goldy/DJ/Roach. If they can go head-to-head with VTech's waves of might mites, I'll be impressed. We especially need these guys to be active on the glass.
-Is the tight rotation of the past 2 games a settling into usual Duke form or will foul trouble mean that we see more of our 6'6"-6'7" guys, namely Baker and Coleman?
-Will we shoot better?
-Will we get to the line more frequently. The days of, "Duke makes more FTs than their opponent attempts" seem so very far away.

Again, this feels like a big game. We need wins like this to punch our March ticket. Let's GO!!!!