The No. 4 Duke Blue Devils have yet to succumb at home this season. Their unbeaten record at Durham, however, is going to be under big threat when the No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers march into the Cameron Indoor Stadium armed with the nation’s best defense. Read on for a preview of this marquee matchup between two elite ACC programs. Register to bet and wager with your pick.
Betting Preview for the Virginia Cavaliers vs Duke Blue Devils NCAA Basketball Game on January 27, 2018
At this point of the season, no one should be doubting the capability of No. 2 Virginia to choke out its opponents’ offenses. The Cavaliers have the best defense in the nation with opposing teams bleeding for just 52.4 points per game. Teams seem to shoot at a moving basket when they are up against Virginia, which limits opponents to only 36.6 field goal shooting percentage. Duke is going to be a tough assignment for the Cavs, but its not like Virginia has not dealt with a top-tier offensive team and came out successful. For one, they have already taken down North Carolina and more recently, NC State – both of those teams are top five in the ACC with neither team scoring fewer than 80 points per contest. Duke will try to control the pace, but it’s not an easy thing to do against the master of controlling the game’s speed. Virginia is last in adjusted tempo per KenPom with only 59.5 possessions per 40 minutes.
Virginia is 3-0 SU and ATS in its last three road games.
Betting on the Duke Blue Devils (18-2)
Duke is not new to Virginia head coach Tony Bennett’s system. As much we like to talk about how scary good the Cavaliers’ defense is, the truth is, it has not prevented Duke from beating the Cavaliers over the past few seasons. In fact, Duke has won eight of its last 10 dates with Virginia and it’s vaunted pack line defense, though they covered the spread in only three of those meetings. Mike Krzyzewski just seems to have Virginia’s number. The Blue Devils have the nation’s most dangerous offense, one that drops 92.1 points per game. They are bannered by super freshman Marvin Bagley III, who is the ACC’s king in points (21.9) and rebounds (11.5) per game. Bagley aside, the Blue Devils have four other players that average no fewer than 12.1 points per game. It would take a gargantuan effort for Virginia to limit Bagley, let alone Grayson Allen and the other Blue Devils’ gifted scorers.
