Auburn basketball returns to the hardwood on Wednesday, one week after defeating No. 15 Memphis to claim the Maui Invitational championship.
Their next test will be on the road as they will face the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils in the headlining game of the ACC-SEC Challenge at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. Auburn owns four “quad 1” wins through its first seven games, will they claim another on Wednesday?
ESPN has forecasted the game through its matchup predictor, and early indications show that the Tigers could suffer its first loss of the season. Ahead of Wednesday’s game, the host Blue Devils have a 66.5% chance to beat Auburn and earn another win for the ACC in this season’s challenge.
Wednesday’s key matchup will be between Auburn forward Johni Broome and Duke forward Cooper Flagg. Both players lead their respective teams in several major categories, including scoring and rebounds. Broome holds the advantage in those areas while Flagg produces 4.1 assists per game to Broome’s 3.3.
Auburn is the better offensive team by scoring 86.7 points per game and connecting on 52.5% of its shots from the field. Duke has a heavy defensive presence by allowing opponents to score 58.6 points and registers 9.3 steals per game. Auburn is KenPom‘s No. 1 offensive team while Duke enters the game as the top defensive squad.
Auburn basketball battles Duke on Wednesday at 8:15 p.m. CT inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. Click here for a broadcast guide to the game.
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This article originally appeared on Auburn Wire: ESPN predicts winner of Wednesday’s Auburn vs. Duke game
