Date 31.12. || Time 4:30 || Venue Cameron Indoor Stadium || video ACCN

Next up for Duke is a 5-7 win over Virginia Tech in a rare midweek afternoon game on New Year’s Eve.

The obvious headline here is Jaden Schutt returning to Cameron. The former Blue Devil transferred to Virginia Tech after last season. He definitely would have ended up further down the depth chart, but injuries forced him to redshirt and then, like most of the team, he left.

He did reasonably well in Blacksburg. He starts and leads the team in minutes played with 28.8 per game. He averages nearly double figures in points (9.3), 3.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He doesn’t shoot particularly well – 37.5 percent on threes and 36.8 percent overall – but he’s clearly valuable to the team.

Schutt took a total of 96 shots and 76 of those were three-point attempts, which makes sense with Mike Young’s happy three-point offense.

His backcourt mate is Brandon Rechsteiner, the scion of a family of athletes, although he took a completely different path there. His father and uncle are both professional wrestlers and his brother Brock is apparently headed in that direction as well.

He doesn’t shoot particularly well – 33.3 percent overall and 22.2 percent on threes – but his primary job is to run the offense, and he does quite well there with 5 apg.

Toby Lawal, a 6-8 transfer from VCU, is averaging 10.7 ppg and 5.8 rpg.

Sophomore Jaydon Young (6-4) also starts. He manages 7.1 ppg.

Mylyjael Poteat, an All-Name Team candidate, is 6-9 and an impressive 260. He is averaging 10.1 ppg, 4.4 boards and is hitting 51.4 percent of his shots.

Tyler Johnson, Ben Burnham, Ben Hammond, Rodney Brown and Patrick Wessler make up the rest of the rotation.

Since joining the ACC, the Hokies have regularly given Duke uniforms. Remember the Sean Dockery game? This was great because Coleman Collins taunted Duke when the Hokies looked like they had won the game, only to see Dockery hit a shot almost over half the field to steal the victory from Virginia Tech (Collins pleaded then the referees to overturn the shot).

On their first visit to Cameron, the fiery Seth Greenberg was furious, partly because he was jostled by the Cameron Crazies on the way out after the loss.

The real problem has come in Blacksburg, where the Hokies missed Duke fits. But this one isn’t in Blacksburg.

As in every game this season, Duke has a major size advantage and will look to dominate the smaller Hokies inside.

Virginia Tech has a key to Duke’s system in Schutt, who knows exactly what Jon Scheyer wants to do. This is a valuable asset if you think about it.

We assume he comes back to Duke ready to prove his point and that he might actually walk away.

But also consider this: Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster know Schutt very, very well. They know when he goes left, when he stops, and what makes him shy away. This is also a very valuable asset. Sion James, Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel can all prove to be a hot hand against Schutt or whoever turns out to be.

Our impression of this rivalry is usually that it will feature Young’s three-point offense against Duke’s very strong defense. This year, however, things feel a little different. Duke’s size and outstanding defense have dwarfed opponents. Khaman Maluach, Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown make it very difficult to do much inside, and Duke’s pressure can reach further than most teams.

If the Hokies get hot — rubble or not — from three-point range, then that’s the wild card. It happens.

When it comes to a more defensive-oriented game, Duke reigns supreme.