The Duke Blue Devils seem to be maxing out its luck, as they escaped by the skin of their teeth again with a win in the Sweet 16 round. Will they continue their winning ways in the Elite Eight against the Michigan State Spartans, who are also oozing with momentum and confidence right now? Or will there will there be a Sparty in the Elite Eight?
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Betting Preview for the Michigan State Spartans vs Duke Blue Devils Elite 8 College Basketball Game on March 31 2019
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington
When: Sunday, March 31, 2019, 2:05 PM ET
Line: Michigan State Spartans (odds) vs. Duke Blue Devils (odds) – view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: CBS
Betting on the Michigan State Spartans (31-6 Overall / 16-4 Conference)
No matter what your opinion is about Tom Izzo’s coaching style, it seemed to work on freshman Aaron Henry, who led the way for the Spartans in their dominant 80-63 win over the LSU Tigers in the Sweet 16 round on Friday. Henry had his fingerprints all over the Spartans victory, as he scored 20 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out six assists, and had a block and a steal in 38 minutes of action. Having Henry play like that was a good sign for the Spartans, as it takes away the focus of opposing teams away from Cassius Winston, who’s been carrying quite a load for his team in the tournament. Winston was nevertheless effective again, as he had 17 points and eight assists in the LSU game. Michigan State also seemed to have gotten its outside touch in the last game. After going just 11-for-34 from deep in the first two rounds, the Spartans went 13-for-32 from downtown against LSU. Henry and Winston will have to continue their dominant ways, especially if Nick Ward can’t give it a go in the Elite Eight round. Ward hurt his hand in the second half against the Tigers and only had four points in 16 minutes.
Michigan State is 4-1 against the spread (ATS) in its last five games and is 26-11 ATS overall this season, covering a whopping 70.3% of the time, which is the second best in NCAA Division 1.
Betting on the Duke Blue Devils (32-5 Overall / 14-4 Conference)
Playing without Cam Reddish, the Blue Devils still managed to shrug off the Virginia Tech Hokies in the Sweet 16 round, beating Buzz Williams’ team, 75-73. For Duke, it was another case of being so fortunate that Zion Williamson is wearing Blue Devils threads. Williamson was unstoppable, as he got his way around Virginia Tech’s defense that threw everything but the kitchen sink at the man-child freshman. Williamson finished with 23 points, and also got ample support from R.J. Barrett and Tre Jones, who had 18 and 22 points, respectively. Reddish was ruled out of the Sweet 16 round just moments before the Virginia Tech game due to a knee issue. It remains uncertain whether he’d be available against Michigan State, but the Blue Devils have enough talent to soften the impact of the freshman’s potential absence. Duke, however, needs more from its bench, as the Blue Devils’ relievers only came up with a total of four points against the Hokies. The Spartans are well-coached with Izzo at the helm, but so does Duke, which has Mike Krzyzewski on top of things in the sidelines.
Duke is 18-18 ATS overall this season, and is just 14-16 ATS after a win.
Writer’s Prediction
Duke wins, 77-74.
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