Thursday night in CBB will see the Virginia Cavaliers head to Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on the Duke Blue Devils. The game is scheduled for a 9:00 pm tipoff and will be televised live on ESPN. Currently Duke is favored by 10.5 points with the total being set at 129 for this game. The 8th-ranked Duke Blue Devils puts the nation's second- longest homecourt winning streak on the line this evening, as they welcome the 16th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers to Durham for a key ACC battle at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Free Analysis: Virginia hasn’t beaten perennial Atlantic Coast Conference power Duke since 2007, and it hasn’t won at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995, a span of 14 games.Tonight they try and change that, but it won't be easy as Duke is 16-1 against Virginia - its best record against any ACC team. The Blue Devils (13-2, 1-0) have won seven straight in the series by an average of 17.6 points and have reeled off 14 consecutive home victories over the Cavaliers since a double-overtime loss in 1995. Tony Bennett's Cavaliers are one of the big surprises this year. Virginia is 14-1 on the season, its best start since going 27-1 to open the 1981-82 campaign. The lone loss came in mid-November to TCU (57-55). Since then, the Cavaliers have reeled off 12 straight wins, including opening league play on Saturday, with a hard-fought 52-51 victory over Miami-Florida. Tony Bennett brought his defensive philosophy to Charlottesville and the Cavaliers have bought in hook, line and sinker. Virginia is one of the top defensive teams in the country, limiting foes to a mere 50.5 ppg (second nationally) on .380 shooting, including a meager .270 from three-point range. Of Course having a player that has been named ACC Player of the Week (Mike Scott) three times, doesn't hurt either. The ACC's active leader in scoring, rebounding and double- doubles, Scott paces Virginia this year with 16.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Guards Joe Harris and Sammy Zeglinski provide perimeter balance with 12.3 and 9.9 ppg, respectively. Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils have just two losses this season, falling at Ohio State (85-63) in late November and then to Temple (78-73) just a week ago. Duke has won 18 straight conference games at home and is 57-1 at home since the start of the 2008-09 season with 43 straight wins at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke doesn't appear to be firing on all cylinders right now. After losing to Temple 78-73 on Jan. 4, Coach K shook up his starting lineup Saturday at Georgia Tech. Freshman Quinn Cook made his first career start at point guard instead of Tyler Thornton, and Miles Plumlee replaced Ryan Kelly. Duke did win 81-74, despite being outrebounded 38-26. The Blue Devils are among the nation's top scoring teams, averaging 82.1 ppg on a hefty .498 shooting. Freshman guard Austin Rivers has made an immediate impact in Durham, averaging a team-high 14.7 ppg. Seth Curry and Ryan Kelly add perimeter depth at 12.9 and 12.6 ppg, respectively. The trio are all shooting over 40 percent from three-point range, combining for 70 of the team's 121 three-pointers to date. Mason Plumlee is the resident muscle down low, shooting a scorching .619 from the field, averaging 11.7 points and a team-high 9.8 rebounds per game. Normally a strong defensive team, Duke has struggled at that end of the floor as they have allowed 69.4 ppg overall and 72 ppg in their last 2 games.
Free Pick: Gonna look to the Over in the one.Duke averages 89.6 ppg at home and they can score in a variety of ways. Inside the paint with Plumlee, plus the slashing ability of Rivers and his medium rang jumpshot as well and this team is deadly from long range as they have hit 41.9 % of their long range shots, which is 8th in the country. That just too many weapons for even a very good defense like the Cavs to hold down and I feel that at the very least Duke should be good for 70 points in this one. The Duke defense has not been that strong this year as they come in ranked 236 in points allowed (69.4 ppg), 244th defensive FG% (44.3) and 196th in 3pt defense (34.3%). Very un-Duke like numbers and It should allow an average Virginia squad to score on them here. Virginia does put up just 65.7 ppg (228th), but they shoot the ball very well, hitting 46.5% of their shots (67th), while on the road they are scoring 69 ppg on 48.3% shooting. Viginia on defense does allow 50.45 ppg on 38% shooting overall, but on the road they have allowed 61 ppg on 44.2% shooting, so I see no reason why a Duke team that averages 89+ at home can't get at least 70 in this one, while Virginia can't grat at the very least 59 points vs a below average Duke defense. Really I'm looking at 135+ in this one.
Betting Strategies - College Basketball Home Court Value
Host Vegas Runner and Pregame Pro Bryan Leonard discuss that not all home courts created equal and every conference has different values.