Florida Gators vs. Duke Blue Devils Preview
Where: Madison Square Garden — New York, New York
When: Tuesday, December 6, 9:00 PM ET
Line: Florida Gators (+6.5) vs. Duke Blue Devils (-6.5) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN / WatchESPN
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Betting on the Florida Gators (+6.5)
As expected, the now-No. 21 Florida moved a few spots up in the AP poll after last week’s 91-60 win over UNF—the Gators’ first game as a ranked team since November of 2014.
Coach Mike White’s boys overpowered the Ospreys with their size, depth and hot shooting. The Gators put in 38 points in the paint, 38 from turnovers; 51 bench points and collectively drained 58.5 percent of their shots despite allowing Dallas Moore to have a big offensive night.
Chris Chiozza finished with team-highs of 16 points and nine assists off the bench, while Justin Leon (13), Canyon Barry (12) and Devin Robinson (10) all contributed 10 points or more.
Beating No. 4 Duke is a gargantuan task for the Gators, who have only lost one game—versus then-No. 11 Gonzaga—thus far. But their balanced attack (77.0 points per game) and solid defense (63.6 points given up per game) will likely give the Blue Devils some trouble and an upset scare.
Florida is priced at +10,000 to win it all this season.
Betting on the Duke Blue Devils (-6.5)
No. 5 Duke barely felt the absence of its two starting guards in Saturday’s blowout win over Maine, 94-55. That’s essentially because of Luke Kennard’s big performance and the much-awaited debuts of two key first-years in Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden.
Kennard poured in a career-best of 35 points, including four three-pointers and the first nine points for Duke, and Tatum and Bolden chipped in 10 and 7 points, respectively, in limited minutes.
Senior Amile Jefferson, meanwhile, also had a big outing, scoring a career-high 20 points with nine rebounds and four dimes, while shooting 8-of-11 from the floor.
It’s scary to think that the Blue Devils, the leading favorites (+500) to win it all this year, were playing without their starting backcourt for that game. Clearly, head coach Mike Krzyzewski has an excess of scoring options in an offense that’s producing 85.7 points a game.
You can expect the points to pile up even more with Grayson Allen and Frank Jackson returning for tonight’s showdown with No. 21 Florida. Those two are averaging 17.1 and 15.4 points per contest across eight games.
Writer’s Prediction
Duke (-6.5) wins it, 77-64.
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