5 Keys to a Wisconsin Victory over Duke in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge

College basketball fans will receive an early Christmas present Wednesday when they get to witness a marquee matchup between No. 4 Duke and No. 2 Wisconsin in the anchor game of the 16th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Both teams are off to 7-0 starts to the season, with the Badgers last winning the Battle 4 Atlantis and the Blue Devils handling Army at home. 

A game of this caliber is as good as it gets for any nonconference contest this season, and a victory can bring tremendous confidence and boost momentum for the winning team.

Here are a few thoughts on what needs to happen for the Badgers if they want to claim supremacy Wednesday night.

Why It’s Important

Any time you have a pair of preseason All-Americans going at each other, that matchup will dominate the attention paid to the game. However, the Badgers need to stay focused on the task at hand, which is Wisconsin vs. Duke and not Frank Kaminsky vs. Jahlil Okafor. 

What that means is if Kaminsky struggles against the talented freshman, who is averaging 17.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, the Badgers need to stay calm and find secondary options instead of panicking over the senior’s troubles.

Contrarily, if Kaminsky, who is averaging 16.6 points and 8.7 rebounds a game, puts up yet another good performance, Wisconsin needs to continue attacking with multiple looks to keep Duke guessing and prevent the Blue Devils from crowding Kaminsky to limit his effectiveness.

How It Can Be Done

Sam Dekker (12.7 PPG) and Nigel Hayes (13.6 PPG) have been Wisconsin’s best offensive options outside of Kaminsky. It almost goes without saying that the two need to have good games Wednesday night to provide support for Kaminsky.

Dekker, being a junior, must step up as one of the leaders of the team and keep the Badgers focused if they run into some early problems. 

As for Hayes, he needs to do the dirty work of controlling the boards and playing defense should Kaminsky be ineffective in those areas. 

If the Badgers can get these efforts from their top guys, they can withstand a possible bad game from Kaminsky and still give themselves a chance to win.

Why It’s Important

This will be the first road game for Duke on the season, which also means the first road test for Duke’s highly touted group of freshmen in Okafor, Tyus Jones, Justise Winslow and Grayson Allen.

These guys have yet to experience a hostile crowd like the Kohl Center's, and there is no doubt that the place will be rocking Wednesday night.

The Badgers have won 17 of their last 22 home games against ranked teams and are 5-2 against Top Five teams under head coach Bo Ryan. They need to make sure the home crowd stays rowdy and jumping throughout the game to potentially affect the Duke freshmen’s psyches.

How It Can Be Done

Keep the game close and go for highlight plays if possible. 

Wisconsin fans finally have a great team to cheer for the first time in a while, and they will get loud for this Badgers team with every chance they can get.

Ryan’s team needs to make sure the visitors don’t take a large lead to a point that silences or quiets the crowd. Nothing takes the air out of room like watching the other team run away with the game.

This year’s Badgers are in no shortage of athletes or shooters. If they have any chance at an alley-oop, a dunk or a momentum-shifting three-pointer, they should try it to pump up the crowd.

Why It’s Important

Through seven games, Duke is averaging 8.9 steals per game and 25.7 points off opponents’ turnovers.

Jones and Quinn Cook lead the way in this area, averaging 1.6 and 1.7 steals per game, respectively.

But the Badgers do a good job at handling the ball, committing just 9.3 turnovers a game, which is good for sixth in the country.

Duke is already the top-ranked team in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to KenPom, so Wisconsin needs to make sure it doesn’t give the Blue Devils any more chances to tally up easy points.

How It Can Be Done

The Badgers need to keep doing what they have been doing.

Traevon Jackson, Josh Gasser and Bronson Koenig have all been solid in the backcourt when it comes to ball-handling so far this season, combining for just 2.5 turnovers per game, but they need to be extra cautious when dealing with the likes of Jones and Cook come Wednesday.

There is also not much reason to doubt Ryan’s team when it comes to taking care of the ball, as Wisconsin has led the nation in fewest turnovers in 2010, 2011 and 2014.

Why It’s Important

Duke has been utilizing the inside-out game with Okafor to its finest in the early going this season, relying on plenty of kickouts for open shooters to knock down the long-range jumpers.

The Blue Devils are 38.7 percent from beyond the arc this season as a result, and they have a bunch of players who can hit their shots from downtown.

Matt Jones, who averages 17.9 minutes and 7.6 points per game, has been the most accurate shooter for Duke so far this season, going 10 of 18 from three-point range, while Cook (42.9 percent), Winslow (39.1 percent), Jones (31.8 percent) and Rasheed Sulaimon (31.3 percent) are just a few of other sharpshooters for Mike Krzyzewski.

How It Can Be Done

Trust Kaminsky’s defense and avoid double-teaming.

Kaminsky is averaging 2.3 blocks per game this season, and the Badgers should believe in their preseason All-American’s ability to guard Okafor on Wednesday.

The rest of the defenders need to resist the urge to double-team Okafor so they can stay with their respective assignments and prevent outside shooting.

The Badgers have a lot of length on their team as well, and they should use that to their advantage to close out on Duke’s shooters and contest every perimeter shot.

Why It’s Important

Duke is averaging 41.2 percent of its rebounds on the offensive end, and Amile Jefferson and Okafor are big reasons for that.

Jefferson is leading the Blue Devils with 8.9 rebounds per game, and out of the 62 boards he has collected so far this season, 29 have come on the offensive side. Meanwhile, Okafor has grabbed four or more offensive rebounds in four consecutive games.

Wisconsin trails Duke in the total rebounding category by about three per game (36.6 to 39.6), but the Badgers do lead the Big Ten in defensive rebounding percentage at 77.7 percent.

How It Can Be Done

To keep Jefferson and Okafor away from the glass is the obvious plan, but to accomplish this feat requires the entire team’s effort.

The Badgers need to crash the defensive board as a whole at all times to ensure they don’t give an already prolific Blue Devils offense second-chance opportunities.

This may affect Wisconsin’s transition game, but it is a trade-off that the team needs to make to limit the Duke frontcourt’s effectiveness.