The Duke Blue Devils and the Louisville Cardinals are currently both unranked. Both will also look to avert a three-game losing skid when they clash against each other this coming Saturday down in Kentucky. Check out our preview of this game below.
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Betting Preview for the Duke Blue Devils vs Louisville Cardinals NCAA College Basketball Game on January 23 2021
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY
When: Saturday, January 23, 2021, 4:00 PM ET
Line: Duke Blue Devils (odds) vs. Louisville Cardinals (odds) – view all 2021 NCAAB lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Duke Blue Devils (odds)
Record: 5-4 Overall / 3-2 Conference
Things are not doing mighty fine in Chapel Hill. Duke is not part of the AP Poll Top 25 rankings in the latest update and is 0-2 straight up in its last two games. The Blue Devils suffered a 74-67 road loss to the Virginia Tech Hokies on Jan. 12 then lost again away from home on Jan. 19 to the Pittsburgh Panthers, 79-73. The loss to the Panthers put to waste the tremendous effort by Jalen Johnson, who returned to the lineup after missing a few games due to a foot injury and dropped a monster double-double of 24 points and 15 rebounds. Johnson can build on that performance and help Duke prevent a three-game skid this Saturday against Louisville, which will also have to deal with Matthew Hurt. The sophomore big man leads Duke this season with 18.9 points per game and is also hooting a high 44.0 percent from deep. Hurt and Johnson are versatile bigs who can stretch the floor, with the latter also shooting 40.0 percent from behind the arc this season.
The over is 3-1 in Duke’s last four games overall.
Betting on the Louisville Cardinals (odds)
Record: 9-3 Overall / 4-2 Conference
The Cardinals will also enter the Duke game on the heels of back-to-back losses. Louisville fell prey to the Miami Hurricanes (78-72) on the road on Jan. 16 then lost to the Florida State Seminoles (78-65) at home on Jan. 18. The Cardinals failed to cover the spread in both losses, while the total went over in those two games as well. Furthermore, the over has gone over in all four of Louisville’s last four games. Perhaps the Cardinals should minimize their 3-point attempts. The Cardinals have thrown bricks from deep of late, going 7 of 36 on their 3-point shots in the last two games. In fact, Louisville is just 32.3 percent from long range this season. But don’t tell that to David Johnson and JJ Traynor, who are shooting above 40 percent from the outside this season. They should have the green light to shoot against Duke’s poor perimeter defense that is among the worst against three this season. Duke is 301st nationally with opponents making 37.7 percent of their 3-point shots.
Louisville is 2-0 against the spread in its last two home games against Duke.
Writer’s Prediction
Louisville wins, 74-71.
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