Damion Lee and the rest of the 19th-ranked Louisville Cardinals will look to continue imposing their will when they square off with Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Can Lee lead his club to another win? Or will Duke find a way to cool them off?
Read on below for a detailed breakdown of this ACC matchup. And if you’re craving for some NBA action as well, you can check out our preview of the Sacramento Kings at Cleveland Cavaliers.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Louisville Cardinals vs. Duke Blue Devils Preview
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina
When: Monday, February 8, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Louisville Cardinals (+4.5) at Duke Blue Devils (-4.5)– view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Louisville Cardinals (19-4, 8-2 ACC)
[sc:NCAAB240banner]No Damion Lee, no problem! The No. 19 Louisville Cardinals relied on Trey Lewis to lead them past Boston College, 79-47, on Saturday afternoon. He finished with a game-high of 16 points along with two rebounds and three dimes across his name.
The Cardinals, who have won six of their previous seven, will now try to continue their run opposite a much tougher opponent in the form of the Duke Blue Devils. Louisville is 5-5 SU and 3-7 ATS in its last 10 games away from home.
Key to their triumph will likely depend on how well they can limit the Blue Devils, who are putting up 84.8 points, on offense. But fortunately, the Cardinals shouldn’t be intimidated at all by Duke’s offensive prowess since defense has been their specialty this season. Louisville’s defense currently ranks third-best in the country with just 59.8 points allowed per contest.
Meanwhile, the offense for the Cardinals is bound to come from Damion Lee. Lee, who leads the team in scoring with 17.0 per game, missed the game against Boston College due to minor knee injury. But he should be ready to suit up for tonight’s game with the Blue Devils.
Lewis is another weapon that the Cardinals can boast about. His services could be really needed in this one especially if Lee struggles. Lewis has finished in double-figures in three of his previous five games. That stretch includes his 22-point outburst versus Virginia Tech on January 27.
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Betting on the Duke Blue Devils (17-6, 6-4 ACC)
As for the Blue Devils, they head into this matchup having won their last two games opposite Georgia Tech and NC State. In both games, it was none other than their Grayson Allen who led the charge, scoring 27 and 28 points respectively.
With those wins the Blue Devils improved to 17-6 overall and 6-4 in conference play, which is good for eighth-place in the ACC. They’ll try to make it three wins in a row when they play host to the No. 19 Louisville Cardinals this evening. Duke is 7-3 SU and 5-5 ATS in its last 10 home games.
Expect Allen and Brandon Ingram to lead the attack from start to finish. Both players have played really well throughout this season. Allen boasts a team-high 20.9 points per contest to go along with 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Ingram, on the other hand, has finished in double-figures in all but four games this year. He is also second in team in scoring (16.9) and rebounding (6.6).
Besides these two, Duke still has the likes of Matt Jones, Luke Kennard and Derryck Thornton to rely on for some more points. The three players are averaging 32.7 points combined this season and can certainly contribute to their team in several ways as well.
Writer’s Prediction
Duke (-4.5) wins it in overtime, 81-77.
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