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Finally living up to their preseason hype, the Duke Blue Devils could be a force come tournament time. There were some trying times for the Dookies a few weeks back with Coach K laid up due to a bad back and several players missing action with injuries. But the coach and players are back and the Blue Devils have rattled off seven straight victories. They have to play three of their final four contests on the road, beginning with a matchup against the Syracuse Orange on Wednesday.
At 7 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Wednesday, February 22, 2017, at the Carrier Dome. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Wednesday schedule.
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It’s difficult to win in the ACC. Heck, three of conference leading North Carolina’s five losses on the year have come in league play. But the Blue Devils have been doing it lately, putting together the longest streak in ACC play at seven games. And it’s not like Duke is feasting on the teams at the bottom of the standings. During the run the Blue Devils have defeated Notre Dame and Virginia on the road while handling North Carolina at home, but they are just 3-4 ATS in that span.
Looks like the NIT or possibly another postseason tournament that doesn’t begin with the letter N for Syracuse. The Orange picked up some steam with a five-game winning streak that put them back in the conversation, but a recent three-game slide, capped by Sunday’s loss at Georgia Tech as a 4-point favorite has relegated Cuse to irrelevant. A win over Duke would certainly help their cause, but too many bad losses during the course of the season are tough to overcome.
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The Orange really need John Gillon to play well for any chance at pulling off the upset. Gillon struggled in the loss to Georgia Tech on Sunday, hitting just 2 of 10 shots and fell well below his points per game average, which ranks third on the team. Gillon has been as inconsistent as his team this year, but when he’s been good, he’s been exceptionally good.
Gillon had a game for the ages at the beginning of this month. He torched NC State for 43 points by hitting 10 of 13 shots, including 9 of 10 from three-point range, and all 14 free throws. He also added nine assists in the 100-93 overtime win. Those games come along once in a lifetime, but it showed what Gillon is capable of. He will need to work his magic on the offensive end of the floor because Syracuse won’t be able to completely shut down Duke.
Key Stat
It seems like Duke has always had scorers and this year is no different. But some of those scorers have missed time and the Blue Devils have suffered because of it. Only two players on the roster – Luke Kennard and Matt Jones – have played in every game this season. But the roster, and Coach K, are healthy and the Dookies are putting things together at the right time.
Kennard is the team’s leading scorer, partly by default, but the guy can shoot. With Jayson Tatum getting back in the flow, along with Grayson Allen and Amile Jefferson, Duke has been more efficient offensively and it’s shown in their numbers. They torched three of the better defensive teams during their run and their offensive efficiency rating of 121.6 is seventh-best in the country. “At the end of ballgames we’ve been really tough. We’ve made winning stops, winning free throws, winning shots and it hasn’t been one guy,” Coach K said following Saturday’s win.
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It’s hard to go against Duke the way they’re playing right now. And as good as the Blue Devils have been, the Orange have been equally bad. However, the Dookies haven’t been blowing teams out and they barely got by Wake Forest as a 12-point favorite on Saturday. During their winning streak the average margin of victory has been 6.4 points, so there’s hope for Cuse.
If Gillon plays more like the NC State performer and less like the Georgia Tech performer, the Orange can hang around, particularly with the Carrier Dome crowd behind them. But that’s asking a lot for a guy and a team that looks tired and slow from a season of little bench help. Duke is feeling good and the winning streak will continue with a fourth straight road victory.
College Basketball Odds: Duke 78, Syracuse 68
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