Can Kyle Filipowski Push Duke to Their Full Potential? Injury Report, Starting Lineup and Prediction vs James Madison

5x national champions Duke will be in action in Brooklyn tonight. After brushing aside the Vermont Catamounts 64-47 in the opening round, the Blue Devils will get a chance to enter the Sweet 16 for the 33rd time tomorrow. However, a fearless James Madison Dukes is standing in their way who recently pulled off an upset on the No.5 Wisconsin.

While this first-ever battle of the Dukes is supposed to be a blockbuster, there are some aspects that are worth looking out for before the contest begins.

Injury report and starting line-ups

After not suiting up in the last six games, Duke’s talented freshman Caleb Foster has been ruled out of the NCAA tournament. The 6′ 5″ guard injured himself in Duke’s 83-79 loss against Wake Forest. Later, reports confirmed that his right foot had undergone a stress fracture. In addition to this, sophomore center Christian Reeves will also miss out as he is currently recovering from his ankle injury.

On the other hand, the locker room of James Madison is without any injuries and will enter the Barclays Center at full strength. In terms of the starting lineup, John Scheyer will likely entrust Jeremy Roach, Kylie Filipowski, Mark Mitchell, Tyrese Proctor, and Jared McCain to start the proceedings for him. Except for Filipowski, the rest of the starters registered double-digit scores in their previous matchup.

For the James Madison Dukes, Mark Byington will utilize the services of T.J. Bickerstaff, Julien Wooden, Noah Freidel, Terrence Edwards, and Xavier Brown as starters. Bickerstaff, Wooden, and Edwards were the standout players for them in their monumental win over the Badgers.

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While both these teams look evenly matched, it is essential to evaluate who holds the upper hand on the day.

Duke Blue Devils vs James Madison Dukes: What do the predictions say?

In the 35 games played so far this season, James Madison has won 32 and lost 3. At the same time, the Blue Devils managed to get 25 victories. Still, the Sun Belt Champions don’t enter the contests as favorites. As it turns out, most of the predictions give an 81.3% chance to the No.4 Duke. Anyhow, James Madison has proven in their previous game that they know a thing or two about defying the odds.

The Barclays Center in Brooklyn is in for a cracking contest. Both the teams are fresh off a win and will look to hold nothing back to pull through the next stage. Only time will tell which team turns out to be the better one at the end of the day. Who do you think will win?

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