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The nation’s #3 rated team goes on the road as the Duke Blue Devils take on the #20 Virginia Tech Hokies in an ACC matchup at the Cassell Coliseum
Duke Falls In Rankings
The Blue Devils bounced back from their loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels with a 75-65 win over Syracuse last Saturday. Playing without star freshman Zion Williamson, Duke won its seventh straight road game in the Atlantic Coast Conference to improve to 24-3 on the season including 12-2 in conference play. Duke however fell to #3 in the AP poll rankings and #2 in the coaches poll.
RJ Barrett leads Duke in scoring at 23.3 points per game while also grabbing 7.5 rebounds and issuing 4.1 assists per game. Cam Reddish is contributing 14.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Tre Jones leads Duke with 5.3 assists per game while center Marques Bolden top the team with 1.9 blocks per game. The injured Zion Williamson was averaging 21.6 points per game while leading the team in rebounding at 8.8 boards per contest.
The Blue Devils are averaging 85.5 points per game of offense while also dishing off 16.5 assists per game. On defense, Duke grabs an average of 42.2 rebounds per contest while allowing their opponents to score just 66.9 points per game. The latter is ranked 59th in the entire nation.
Winless Over Top 16 Teams
Virginia Tech is coming off a 67-59 win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday night behind 22 points and 14 rebounds from Kerry Blackshear Jr. With the win, the Hokies improved to 21-6 on the season and 10-5 in ACC conference play. However, Virginia Tech will finish the season facing two ranked opponents in their last three regular season games including this one against Duke. The Hokies are 0-4 against Top 16 teams this season.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker leads Virginia Tech with 16.5 points and 2.0 steals per game. The 6-5 guard from Toronto is also averaging 3.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Kerry Blackshear Jr. is the team’s best rebounder and shot blocker a 7.2 boards and 0.9 swats per contest while also scoring 14.6 points per game. Justin Robinson is the top passer for the Hokies with 5.4 assists aside from scoring 14.4 points per game. Robinson though is out indefinitely with a foot injury.
Virginia Tech is averaging 74.4 points per game on offense this season. The Hokies are issuing 15.6 assists per contest while also hauling down a total of 32.6 rebounds per outing. Virginia Tech has the 9th best scoring defense in the nation as they allow their opponents to score just 61.1 points per game this season.
Who Wins?
The Blue Devils are 9-1 SU in their last 10 games played. Duke is 5-0 SU in their last five games away from home. The Hokies are 6-4 SU in their last 10 games played. Virginia Tech is 2-2 SU in their last four home games. Head to head, the Blue Devils are 8-2 SU in their last 10 meetings.
Without Zion Williamson, Duke turned to their “other” super freshman RJ Barrett to deliver the goods. Barrett responded with 30 points after posting a triple-double and double-double in their previous two games. Sophomore Alex O’Connell gave the Blue Devils 20 points in his first start after going 5-8 from behind the arc.
The Hokies are 4-3 since senior guard Justin Robinson went down with a left foot injury last January 30. Virginia Tech is 17-3 with the senior guard on the floor and his absence will surely be felt against the top ranked team in the nation. With Robinson out, the man to watch for the Hokies is junior forward Kerry Blackshear Jr. who is averaging 20.1 points and 9.3 rebounds this month. Blackshear is also shooting 60% from the floor and 9-17 from behind the three point area in February.
Duke is without Zion Williamson but Virginia Tech is also without Justin Robinson. But the Blue Devils have enough talent to win this game while the Hokies are just a mediocre 4-3 SU without Robinson. Both teams are missing key players but Virginia Tech is hurting more than Duke right now.
I’m pickling the Duke Blue Devils to beat the Virginia Tech Hokies on 2/26/19.
Other Bets To Make
Duke is 6-4 ATS in its last 10 games played. The Blue Devils are 4-1 ATS in their last five road games. Virginia Tech is 4-5-1 ATS in its last 10 games played. The Hokies are 1-3 ATS in their last four home games. Head to head, the Hokies are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games played against the Blue Devils.
Duke
-4.5 (-115)
Virginia Tech
+4.5 (-105)
Odds from betonline.ag as of 2/26/19
Duke is 5-1 ATS in their last six Tuesday games, 4-1 ATS fie road games and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games after an ATS win. Virginia Tech is 2-6-1 ATS in their last nine games after an SU win, 2-7 ATS in their last nine games against teams with a winning SU record. 1-5 ATS in their last six home games and 1-4-1 ATS in their last six games overall.
Prediction: Duke -4.5
The total has gone under in eight out of the last 10 games played by Duke. The under is 4-1 in the Blue Devils’ last five road games. The over is 6-4 in the last 10 games played by Virginia Tech. The Hokies have seen the total go over in three out of their last four home games. Head to head, the under is 8-2 in their last 10 meetings.
Duke
O 146 -115
Virginia Tech
U 146 -105
Odds from betonline.ag as of 2/26/19
The trends point to over and we know that Duke is an explosive scoring team but Virginia Tech has a Top 10 defense and should be able to hold a Zion-less Duke team to below its scoring average. The under is 5-1-1 in the Blue Devils’ last seven road games against an opponent with a winning home record and the under is 5-2 in their last seven road games against the Hokies. I’ll take the under in this matchup.
Prediction: Under 146
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