The Virginia Cavaliers are hosting the Duke Blue Devils tonight in college basketball action. The game is scheduled for a 9:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN2. The college basketball odds for the game have the Cavaliers favored to pick up the win at home.

College Basketball Odds
Virginia -4.5
Total: 129 points

If the Cavaliers are able to determine the pace of this contest, it’s going to be a lower-scoring one like the total indicates. Duke is a team that can score a lot of points but Virginia obviously plays at a much slower pace to the contest.

The Cavaliers are yielding just 55.1 points per game this season, that ranks best in the country in scoring defense. Losses in three of the last six games overall have dropped Virginia in the overall rankings but in those six games they held Villanova, Virginia Tech (twice), Syracuse and Louisville to an average of only 51 points per contest, Virginia Tech putting up 80 the last time out was the outlier.

Duke comes in hot, winning five in a row and six of the last seven overall. The Blue Devils are starting to piece together things with their youngsters and are looking to make an impact toward the end of the season. Both of these teams are 8-4 in conference play and sit one game behind North Carolina, which makes this a big game for both clubs.

Duke will look to speed things up and take advantage on the glass, Virginia doesn’t want that as the Cavaliers are not a good rebounding team. If Duke can get its youngsters going early and Luke Kennard can knock down some shots, the Blue Devils could be in good shape.

Free Pick: Duke

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