The Duke Blue Devils and Texas Longhorns meet for the Dike Vitale Invitational at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. This is going to be one of the better games of the opening slate of the season.
The Blue Devils are the 6th-ranked team in the country in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll. They are loaded with talent and will continue to have Final Four aspirations. Texas is unranked, but proved to be a solid SEC squad last season with big wins. A win tonight for Texas would shock the NCAA community.
Duke is getting a big injury update for this contest. Maliq Brown is expected to play, according to Jon Rothstein. He will be available for this highly anticipated season opener after recovering from a knee injury.
“Duke’s Maliq Brown (knee) will be available for tonight’s game against Texas, per release.
A nice boost for the Blue Devils.”
Brown is a defensive star for the Blue Devils. He averaged 1.3 steals per game last season, but at Syracuse the season before, he averaged 2.2 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. His presence will make it difficult for Texas players to get open looks.
Duke is going to have a tough schedule this season. Head coach Jon Scheyer is not afraid of it.
After a disappointing end to the 2025 March Madness run, Duke has a deep team ready to make it back. Cameron Boozer leads the way and could be a top-three pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Boozer is getting Kevin Love comparisons already.
