Mercer vs Duke Gambling Lines
The 14th-seeded Mercer Bears and the third-seeded Duke Blue Devils will open day two action in the Midwest Region at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday.
The 14th-seeded Mercer Bears and the third-seeded Duke Blue Devils will open day two action in the Midwest Region at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday.
The Blue Devils have made it to the ACC Championship Game but they have not been overly impressive. They barely got by Clemson in the quarterfinals and also failed to cover in the semis against N.C. State.
The North Carolina State Wolfpack and the seventh-ranked Duke Blue Devils will square off in Greensboro on Saturday in the semifinal round of the ACC Tournament.
UNC is 16-14 ATS with an O/U record of 14-15 and Duke is 17-12-1 ATS with an O/U record of 13-16. This season Duke is 16-0 at home and UNC is 6-4 on the road.
The fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils will make the trip over to Winston-Salem for a visit with an ACC rival on Wednesday, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The Blue Devils are on a roll with 11 wins in their last 13 games, while the Demon Deacons have just one win in their last nine.
The top-ranked Syracuse Orange will make the trip over to Durham on Saturday for a grudge match with the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The first meeting between these teams this season was a thriller, with Syracuse gutting out a 91-89 overtime win in overtime at the Carrier Dome.
The eighth-ranked Duke Blue Devils will make the always daunting trip over to Chapel Hill on Wednesday to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in one of the most anticipated matchups of rivalry week.
This season Duke is 12-8 ATS with an O/U record of 8-11 and Pitt is 7-9-1 ARS with an O/U record of 11-5.
Virginia is 6-6 ATS with an O/U record of 5-5 and Duke is 9-7 ATS with an O/U record of 6-9. This season Duke is are 9-0 at home and Virginia is 2-2 on the road.
The Blue Devils are looking good and are probably getting better. They have won 5 straight but this is their first true road game of the season, which I think it significant given that their top player is a freshman.
The news from this year’s Chick-fil-A bowl has not been about how the teams to players will match up, but rather how they won’t.
The unranked 9-1 UCLA Bruins look for a little respect as they play the number 8 ranked Duke Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden on ESPN.
UCLA Bruins (9-1) vs Duke Blue Devils (8-2)
When: Thursday, December 19th, 2013, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Broadcast: ESPN
Spread: Duke Blue Devils -3
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ATS Matchup Insight | CappersPicks Insider Preview
On December 7th, the then ranked number 18 UCLA Bruins took on the unranked Mizzouri Tigers on the road. After getting off to a hot start in that game, the Bruins struggled in the second half. At halftime, the Bruins were up by 8, but the end result was the Missouri Tigers winning by 9. Led by a 45 point effort and shutting down UCLA to only 28 points in the second half.
It was UCLA’s first real test of the season and they didn’t really pass. Again, they had a good first half, but a terrible second half. Which cost the Bruins the game and their ranking. Now, UCLA can redeem themselves a bit by taking on the Duke Blue Devils on a neutral arena in the Madison Square Garden.
For Duke, this will be their 4 or 5th big test already in the early season. Duke played the Kansas Jayhawks for their second game and got beat. They got beat by 11, but 5 games later they played the Alabama Crimson Tide and Duke beat them.
Now, granted, you can decide for yourself whether or not Alabama is a notable team, but Duke were only -9 point favorites going into that game, and the Blue Devils did cover.
Two days later on November 29th, Duke went to New York to play the Arizona Wildcats and they came up short losing 72-66. But, they bounced back at home versus the then number 22 ranked Michigan Wolverines and beat them by 10.
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Players to watch: This game features two of the higher scoring players in college basketball. Super freshman forward Jabari Parker is tied for 15th in all of college basketball at 22.0 points per game. And UCLA sophomore guard Jordan Adams is scoring at a 21.2 points per game clip which is good for 22nd in college basketball.
Going back to Jabari Parker, he also leads his team in rebounds with 7.6 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Rodney Hood is second on Duke with 18.9 points per game and junior guard Quinn Cook is third with 14.7 points per game.
For UCLA, freshman guard Zach LaVine is second on the team with 13.8 points per game, and sophomore Kyle Anderson does a little bit of everything on the Bruins. He’s scoring 13.8 points per game, pulling down 8.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists a game. Anderson leads his team in both rebounds and assists.
All in all, it’s another interesting early college basketball game. Just as a note, this year has been fantastic with all these good/great teams all facing each other. It’s been very exciting to watch.
Now, back to my pick, I believe the best pick is Duke at -3. Duke is more battle tested so far and I believe they are the more talented team of the two. UCLA hasn’t really been tested yet, and the only game that they were tested in, they ended up losing. So, give me the tested Duke Blue Devils at -3.
Pick: Duke Blue Devils -3
The Wolverines have not gotten off the to the best of starts. It might be a little bit of a hangover from last year’s run to the Finals but there have certainly been injuries that have affected them adversely too with big man Mitch McGary both missing time and not looking all that great out there overall.
Miami’s credibility has taken a huge hit with back to back conference losses. In fact, teh Hurricanes and Blue Devils are actually tied right now in the Coastal Division with 3-2 conference records so whichever teams wins this one will still have a chance to rise to the top of a division that is pretty crowded right now.
The Duke Blue Devils will look to disrupt Virginia Techs six-game winning streak on Saturday at Lane Stadium, dashing the Hokies’ hopes for a sixth ACC Coastal Division title, after winning five of the last eight seasons.
The Duke Blue Devils are perennially one of the most polarizing teams in all of college basketball, and that trend isn’t likely to change in the 2012-13 season. The team is ranked eighth overall in both the preseason AP and USA Today Polls, and they are ready to avenge themselves following a disappointing showing in the NCAA tournament last year.