Purcell Pavilion – South Bend, IN
Tip-off: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Line: Notre Dame -1

No.8 Notre Dame looks for its fifth consecutive win as they welcome No.4 Duke to South Bend, fresh off Mike Krzyzewski winning his landmark 1,000th game.

This top-10 ACC matchup features the two top offenses in the conference (and two of the top-5 most efficient offenses in the nation) with Notre Dame (81.9 PPG, 10th in NCAA; 1.25 PP/Poss, 1st in NCAA) facing Duke (81.6 PPG, 12th in NCAA; 1.21 PP/Poss, 5th in NCAA). The two-game losing skid on Jan. 11-13 where the Blue Devils lost by 12 points at NC State and by 16 points at home to Miami seems to have faded into a distant memory. Krzyzewski picked up wins 998, 999 and 1,000 in the previous 10 days with impressive double-digit victories at Louisville on Jan. 17 (63-52), versus Pittsburgh on Monday (79-65), and at St. John’s on Sunday (77-68). The Fighting Irish have only two close SU blemishes: losing on a neutral court to Providence in November and a six-point home loss to Virginia. Notre Dame has struggled, however, in January, stumbling to a 1-4 ATS mark in conference play before covering its past two contests. These two schools played their first-ever conference matchup at Purcell Pavilion last season, with 5.5-point underdog Notre Dame pulling off the 79-77 upset and garnering its first-ever ACC conference win. Duke has owned this series since 1980, dropping only one other contest versus the Irish prior to last season’s loss. Notre Dame is undefeated (8-0) on two days' rest this season, but only 2-4 ATS at home. Meanwhile, Duke is also undefeated (5-0) on two days' rest, and also 2-0 (SU and ATS) as a road underdog with wins at Wisconsin and at Louisville.

Which top-10 team will prevail on Wednesday night? For the latest college basketball picks, check out The Platinum Sheet for all the StatFox Experts selections every week throughout the entire 2013-14 season. The experts have been heating up since Dec. 23, combining for a 59% ATS mark (76-54) in college basketball Best Bets. StatFox Gary is a stellar 69% ATS (18-8) during this timeframe to improve to 64% ATS (36-20) for the season. StatFox Brian is 64% ATS (14-8) in Best Bets since Dec. 28 to put him at 55% ATS (31-25) this season, while StatFox Zach is on a 61% ATS (11-7) Best Bets run since Jan. 1 and has a solid 55% ATS mark (31-25) this season. StatFox Dave is heating up with a 64% ATS (7-4) mark in Best Bets since Jan. 13, and StatFox Scott is a strong 62% ATS (16-10) in Best Bets since Dec. 23.

After the aforementioned two-game skid, where the Duke defense was shredded for 87 and 90 points respectively, Krzyzewski made a tactical switch to a 2-3 zone defense before starting the team's current three-game winning streak. During that span, the Blue Devils have held opponents to 61.7 PPG and 24.3% from three-point range. While the perimeter defense has substantially improved in this small sample size, the Blue Devils have become susceptible to athletic wing players over their past three games, as Terry Rozier of Louisville, Jamel Artis of Pittsburgh, and Sir’Dominic Porter of St. John’s scored 17, 21, and 21 points respectively versus Duke’s new defense. The Blue Devils are led by the freshman duo of C Jahlil Okafor (18.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 1.5 BPG) and co-ACC rookie of the week, PG Tyus Jones (10.7 PPG, 5.1 APG, 3.2 RPG) who has scored 22 points in his past two games on hot shooting (12-of-22 FG, 6-of-11 from three). Jones is also almost automatic from the line going 46-for-49 over his past 10 games and leading the ACC at 89% FT on the season. At 6-foot-10, Okafor provides a matchup nightmare for the undersized Irish front line. Amidst all of the accolades Okafor has received over his individual exploits, it flies under the radar that he’s almost never in foul trouble (0 foul outs this season). Paramount to Duke’s success versus the perimeter-oriented Irish will be the play of SG Quinn Cook (14.3 PPG, 2.8 APG, 2.6 threes per game) and SG Rasheed Sulaimon (7.7 PPG, 1.2 threes per game). This duo will probably log big minutes to match up with the “four-out” offense of Notre Dame. Where Duke has a decided advantage, as mentioned with Okafor, is on the glass. PF Amile Jefferson (9.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 66% FG) will bolster the Blue Devils’ advantage on the glass (37.7 RPG; 2nd overall in ACC) versus Notre Dame’s subpar rebounding (minus-1.9 RPG margin in conference play).

Notre Dame has arguably the most un-guardable offense in the country. Its 10th-ranked overall scoring offense (81.9 PPG) is fueled by an ultra-efficient and almost mistake-free, perimeter attack (1.72 Ast/TO ratio; 1st in NCAA). The Fighting Irish lead the conference with 9.0 threes per game (19th in NCAA), and their offensive exploits are highlighted when noting that they get to 81.9 PPG all while playing at an average pace (65.5 poss/game, 217th in NCAA). The Irish boast five players who all make more than one three per game: SF Pat Connaughton (13.9 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 2.1 threes per game), SF V.J. Beachem (8.1 PPG, 1.9 threes per game), PG Demetrius Jackson (13.4 PPG, 1.9 SPG, 1.7 threes per game), PG Jerian Grant (17.1 PPG, 6.2 APG, 1.6 threes per game) and SG Steve Vasturia (8.7 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.3 threes per game). Their play in the paint centers around PF Zach Auguste (13.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 66% FG), who recently returned from a one-game academic suspension. Auguste’s minutes were in the 20’s or lower his first two games back, but he played 36 minutes in the Irish’s overtime win over NC State in Raleigh on Sunday while racking up a double-double. While the Irish uncharacteristically blocked six shots on Sunday against the Wolfpack, they don’t have any rim protection to offset Okafor with a team average of 3.9 BPG. Grant is the heart of the Fighting Irish attack. He’s a jack-of-all-trades lead guard who has the size (6-foot-5) to get off his shot over smaller opponents and guard any perimeter player on the floor that head coach Mike Brey wants him to. Grant’s recent efficient play shows just how versatile he is, averaging last 4 games: 19.5 PPG, 6.0 APG, 54% FG, 1.5 3PM/G, 1.5 SPG, 1.0 BPG in his past four games. Connaughton is almost as versatile, as Brey asks the 6-foot-5 forward to not only be the Irish’s best long-range sniper (2.8 threes per game at a 45% clip) but also to clean the glass – especially on the defensive end (7.1 of 8.4 RPG are defensive). Jackson, Vasturia and Beachum all provide complementary perimeter help and defensive versatility for the Irish. Jackson is a poor-man’s Grant with the ability to distribute (2.3 Ast/TO) and pilfer (1.9 SPG). Vasturia is a streaky shooter who’s rounded out his game this season to help Connaughton on the glass, and Beachum is a dead-red sniper with 68% of his made FG being three-pointers this season. Notre Dame’s 73% mark from the charity stripe in ACC play is just percentage points ahead of Duke. Grant shoots just over 78% from the stripe in conference play, as both he and Duke’s Jones make great end-game options when salting away a lead.