Duke’s stormed to its second consecutive victory on Wednesday night with a tough six-point win over Georgia Tech. Making it three wins in a row won’t be easy, though, as standing in their way this coming Saturday are the Notre Dame Fighting Irish whose playing some excellent basketball as well, having won six of their last seven games.
Read on below for a preview of this much-anticipated college basketball showdown and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the game between No. 3 Virginia and No. 9 Louisville here.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Duke Blue Devils Betting Preview
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham
When: Saturday, February 7, 1:00 PM ET
Line: Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Duke Blue Devils – view all NCAA Basketball lines
Betting on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame bounced back from its sorry loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers with a solid 71-63 win over Boston College Wednesday night. The Fighting Irish withstood a furious fight back by the Panthers to grab the all-important victory and improve their slate to 21-3, their best start to an NCAA campaign since going 22-3 in the 1978-79 season.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]That sets them up quite nicely ahead of their much-anticipated rematch with the Duke Blue Devils. The Fighting Irish will fancy their chances against Mike Krzyzewski’s men because of the way they performed against the Blue Devils in their last meeting a week ago.
Notre Dame engaged Duke in an offensive shoot-out, with the Fighting Irish edging past the Blue Devils 77-73. Duke led by as much as 10 points in the second half before the Fighting Irish rallied behind the heroics of star guard Jerian Grant.
Grant finished the game with 23 points, 12 assists, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks in a sterling all-around performance. He was so influential for the Fighting Irish that he either scored or assisted on 21 of Notre Dame’s 29 field goals against Duke.
Grant has been a vital cog for Notre Dame this season, leading the team not only in points (17.3 PPG) but also in assists (6.4 APG) and steals (1.8 SPG) as well. He displayed his offensive brilliance in Notre Dame’s against Boston College where he led the Irish in scoring with 17 points.
For Notre Dame to pull off the same result against Duke, it needs to employ the same balanced offensive attack that worked wonders for the team in its last encounter with the Blue Devils. Four starters scored in double-figures for Notre Dame in that game with Zach Auguste (14 points), Pat Connaughton (13 points) and Demetrius Jackson (10 points) lending some scoring support for Grant.
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Betting on the Duke Blue Devils
The records just keep on tumbling for Coach K.
A week after reaching the 1,000-win milestone, coach Mike Krzyzewski added yet another feather to his cap, becoming the ACC’s winningest coach following Duke’s gritty 72-66 win over Georgia Tech Wednesday night. The victory was Krzyzewski’s 423rd win in the league, surpassing Dean Smith’s mark of 422 victories which he set during his successful stint with North Carolina.
Reaching win no. 423 wasn’t easy, though, as Georgia Tech kept in step with the four-time NCAA champions the entire ballgame. Duke never led by more than seven points in the second half as the Yellow Jackets looked poised to grab the huge upset. Fortunately for Krzyzewski, Quinn Cook saved the day for the Blue Devils as he scored all 17 of his points in the second half to lead Duke to their 19th win of the season.
Cook has been superb for the Blue Devils this campaign, averaging 14.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game this season. He has stepped up his performance during Duke’s current two-game winning run, averaging 16 points on 12-of-24 shooting from the field.
Cook was effective as well in Duke’s loss to Notre Dame, scoring 15 points and dishing out three assists. He is expected to carry the scoring cudgels for Duke alongside Jahlil Okafor who has been a monster for the Blue Devils inside the shaded area this season.
Okafor leads the team not only in points (18.1 PPG) but also in rebounds (9.3 RPG) and blocks (1.5 BPG) as well. He proved to be a handful for the Notre Dame front court in their first meeting, scoring 22 points and hauling down 17 boards.
Writer’s Prediction
Notre Dame stuns Duke, 72-64.
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