ESPN's Tip-Off Marathon continues Tuesday night and we will see the Duke Blue Devils take on the Kentucky Wildcats at the Georgia Dome in Atlnata. The game is scheduled for a 9:30 pm (Eastern) start time and will be televised live on ESPN. Currently the odds for the game have Duke favored by 3 points while the total sits at 140.5. Check out Sportsbook Spy to see who the Public is taking on all of today's games.
Free Analysis: The defending national champs had their hands full in their season-opener against Maryland, holding off Maryland late to earn a hard-fought 72-69 victory. The game marked the collegiate debut of the nation's top recruit, Nerlens Noel, although the youngster was overshadowed by sophomore Kyle Wiltjer. John Calipari is known for getting the most out of his young rosters and is expected to do it once again in 2012-13. Calipari lost all five starters from a year ago, four of which were selected in the first-round of the NBA Draft, including the top two picks, Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. In fact, the Wildcats are the only team from a major conference to not return a single player with at least one start. Nerlens Noel will be looked upon to soften the blow of the departure of Anthony Davis, who was the top overall pick of the 2012 NBA draft. Noel is hardly a scoring machine, but the 6-foot-10 freshman had nine rebounds and three blocked shots against Maryland. Jarrod Polson eclipsed his career total by scoring 10 points in the opener. Polson could see additional time with fellow guard Ryan Harrow still battling the flu. Harrow, who is a North Carolina State transfer, has been held out of practice since Friday's victory. Sophomore power forward Kyle Wiltjer had a game-high 19 points and top-10 recruit Archie Goodwin added 16 in Kentucky's season-opening victory.
Duke can relate to Kentucky's plight, as the Blue Devils also came into the season with some notable losses, as Miles Plumlee and Austin Rivers moved on to the NBA, while Andre Dawkins has taken a leave of absence. In the season- opening win over Georgia State, the Blue Devils showed they will be able to assuage the losses, as the team shot a sterling .511 from the floor, including an impressive 11-of-24 from behind the arc. Mason Plumlee dominated in the low post, recording a double-double with team-highs of 19 points and 14 rebounds. Plumlee could wreak havoc on the boards against Kentucky, which was outrebounded by a 53-38 margin (28-13 on the offensive end) in its opener. Duke erupted for 11 3-pointers in the season-opening victory. Veteran guards Seth Curry and Tyler Thornton provided plenty of balance with 15 and 13 points, respectively. The pair combined for six three-pointers.Tyler Thornton drew rave reviews from coach Mike Krzyzewski following his 13-point, three-assist, two-steal performance. Despite losing the battle on the boards (33-31), Duke held Georgia State to a mere .373 shooting effort and forced 16 turnovers.
Free Pick: I like the Over in this one. In the Opener Kentucky showed that they will still be able to score plenty this year, even with all their new faces. It will take some time for them to gel, but they did not take on a great defensive team in the opener and will take on a Duke team that struggled mightily on defense last year. Duke did look good in on defense in their opener vs Georgia State, but they are not the same kind of offensive team as the Cats are. The Duke offense is very good and they do like to run a bit and hoist up a ton of threes and they will be facing a Kentucky team that had some breakdowns vs Maryland, allowing allot of easy baskets. Both teams will struggle on defense in this one as we see a game that could reach 150.
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Basketball Betting Tips
Host Marco D'Angelo along with Johnny Detroit and Bryan Leonard discuss some betting tips for College and Pro Basketball.