Duke Blue Devils vs. UNLV Rebels Preview
Where: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas
When: Saturday, December 10, 5:15 PM ET
Line: Duke Blue Devils (TBA) vs. UNLV Rebels (TBA) – view all NCAAB lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
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Betting on the Duke Blue Devils (TBA)
Oh boy, the Blue Devils are looking scarier and scarier. In its latest show of force, Duke defeated No. 21 Florida on Tuesday, 84-74, to notch its seventh-straight victory.
Duke leaned heavily on the hot-shooting Luke Kennard and the imposing Amile Jefferson against the Gators. Kennard pounded out 29 points on the strength of an 11-for-16 shooting from the field, which includes five treys on seven attempts. Kennard is surprisingly the best scorer on the talent-laden Duke squad, as he is averaging 20.4 PPG on 52.2% FG%. Jefferson, meanwhile, had 24 points and 15 rebounds to go with four blocks in a terrific display of two-way basketball.
The talent goes deeper than just Kennard and Jefferson with the likes of Grayson Allen and Jayson Tatum also on the roster. Tatum came off the bench in the Florida game and poured in 22 points.
This depth is going to be hard to match for the Rebels, whose 200th I ranked defense is about to face Duke’s offense that is manufacturing 85.5 PPG and is ranked No. 1 by KenPom in terms of adjusted offensive efficiency.
Duke is 3-1 ATS in its last four games overall.
Betting on the UNLV Rebels (TBA)
The Rebels will look to avoid losing to another group of devils this Saturday, as they host Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils this Saturday. UNLV was denied of a three-game win streak last week, when it lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils 97-73 last week.
The Rebels simply had barely anything going for them on offense against Arizona State. They shot 38.9% from the field and went just 6-for-22 on their threes. They were already behind by 19 at the half and weren’t able to cut the deficit down to a single digit the rest of the way. Defensively, the Rebels let Arizona State hit 18 threes and shoot 49.2% from the field overall.
UNLV doesn’t have the firepower that Duke has so it will have to avoid engaging the Blue Devils in a shootout. Slowing down the game’s pace and winning the rebounding battle would be crucial for the Rebels, who are 51st in Division I ball with 40.1 rebounds per game.
Jalen Poyser, who scored 20 points against Arizona State, is the Rebels’ leading scorer this season with 17.5 PPG.
Writer’s Prediction
Duke wins, 87-62.
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