Winning on the road has been one of the few problems for the Duke Blue Devils this season. Duke’s only two losses came on the road against marginal ACC opponents in Boston College and NC State. The Blue Devils wanted to prove that they could win on the road and hammered Pittsburgh in the Steel City earlier in the week.
The Miami Hurricanes will be Duke’s toughest road test so far this season. Miami has only lost twice, but has played a rather mediocre schedule. Both teams will have something to prove in this one.
This war on the floor will go down Monday, January 15, 2018, at 7 p.m. ET at Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida. The game will be televised live on ESPN. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Monday schedule.
Opening College Basketball Odds at BookMaker.eu
Duke has been a double-digit favorite in each of its last seven games and that streak will probably run to eight after they host Wake Forest on Saturday. However, it is very likely that the Blue Devils will only be a short favorite in this game.
The Blue Devils have been one of the top teams to bet on this year. They are 9-5 ATS and have been able to shoot the lights out against most opponents. Over has been a great bet in their games because of how good the offense is. Duke has seen 12 of its 14 games end up over the total.
Miami will likely be an underdog for just the second time all season this week. The Hurricanes were underdogs when they went on the road to take on Minnesota and knocked off the Golden Gophers in that one. Beating Duke will be a much different story though.
Defense has ruled the day for the Hurricanes this year. Miami has seen seven of its 10 games finish under the total because of its fantastic defense. It is holding opponents to under 60 points a game, and the team boasts the fourth-best scoring defense in the country.
Player to Watch
This is normally the spot where I praise Marvin Bagley III effusively. Bagley has continued to be incredible, but his freshman frontcourt partner is deserving of some love to.
Wendell Carter Jr. has been pretty great in his own right. Carter is the team’s third-leading scorer and is the best interior defensive presence on the team. He is putting up 13.3 PPG and 8.6 RPG this season.
In Duke’s last three games, he has run into foul trouble though. Carter picked up four fouls in each of those games and that ended up really hurting the team against NC State. He showed what he was capable of in the narrow win over Florida State with 14 points and 16 rebounds, and him getting into foul trouble early against the Wolfpack stung.
Matchup to Watch
This could very well be the best defense that Duke faces all season. Miami is second in the country in opponent effective field goal percentage and does not allow teams to hit the three. The Hurricanes are allowing teams to hit just 26.5 percent from beyond the arc.
A little of this is due to the weak opposition Miami has faced to date, but this team has some real playmakers on defense. Bruce Bowen Jr. is looking to be a chip off the block and has been a very good perimeter defender.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
The Blue Devils dismantled a bad Pitt team on the road, but this team still needs to prove it can beat good teams in a hostile environment. Duke seems to be a team prone to distraction, and there is no place more distracting for a young player than Miami. The Hurricanes are very live dogs here.
College Basketball Odds: Miami 76, Duke 74
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