6:35 pm
March 10

ACC Tournament: Duke v. Louisville

Who will WIN this matchup?

Duke Blue Devils (12-11)

Louisville Cardinals (13-6)

 

Current odds:

Duke Blue Devils: (-145)

Louisville Cardinals: (+125)

 

• The line for this game is Duke by 2.5 points.

• Duke cleared the first hurdle Tuesday in its last-ditch effort to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 1994-95 season. Duke, which likely needs to win the ACC tournament this week in Greensboro to advance to the NCAA Tournament, took care of business during an 86-51 rout of No. 15 seed Boston College in the opening round. No team has ever won five ACC tournament games in five days.

• The Blue Devils (12-11, 9-9 ACC) will next have to beat No. 7 seed Louisville (13-6, 8-5) on Wednesday night to keep those hopes alive. The Cardinals, who closed the regular season with a 78-68 loss to top-seeded Virginia last Saturday, swept Duke during the regular season for the first time. In both games, All-ACC first team guard Carlik Jones (17 points, 4.6 assists per game) led Louisville, scoring 24 points in a 70-65 win at Louisville on Jan. 23rd, and 25 points in an 80-73 victory in overtime Feb. 27th in Durham.

• A major key for Duke will be keeping its own All-ACC first teamer Matthew Hurt on the court. Hurt, who is averaging 18.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game) scored 37 and 24 points respectively in each game against Louisville, but fouled out of both games. Hurt only had eight points against Boston College on Tuesday, but Steward had 17 points and four assists, and Duke made 15-of-32 shots from 3-point range.

• Louisville’s frontcourt of Jae’Lyn Withers (10.3 points, 7.9 rebounds per game) and Samuell Williamson (9.9 points, 8.1 rebounds per game) will take on the challenge of containing Hurt.

• The Blue Devils are staying in Durham in between ACC tournament games and, according to ESPN, have not altered their plans to continue to do so as of Tuesday evening.

4/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Duke Blue Devils
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