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Currently on a three-game skid after back-to-back home losses, Duke makes the short trip to Raleigh for an ACC showdown with NC State. The game looks awfully interesting now, especially if the Wolfpack gets any kind of boost from its first league win.
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HOW THE DUKE BLUE DEVILS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Three heartbreaking losses in a row have left Duke reeling. Throw in the last second loss to Utah just before Christmas and it obvious we’re not dealing with the same type of Blue Devil squad we’ve become accustomed to under Coach K.
One year ago, Duke’s defense collapsed in back-to-back losses to NC State and Miami. The latter was a 16-point home loss to a team that didn’t make the NCAA tournament. The next time out, Duke went on the road and crushed No. 6 Louisville by 11. We know how that season turned out.
A year before that, Duke appeared to be in meltdown mode after losing two of three ACC games to start January, including a 13-point loss to a Clemson team that would not qualify for the NCAA tournament. The Dookies responded by beating league champ Virginia and won nine of their next 10.
These teams that staggered in mid-January bounced back to finish in the top 10. Is there any reason to think this Duke team won’t do the same? Well, there are. It’s the thinnest, youngest and most inexperienced roster Coach K has had in some time, yet they’ve been competitive in every loss. It wouldn’t take much to turn that 3-3 ACC record into 6-0.
HOW THE NC STATE WOLFPACK CAN COVER THE SPREAD
NC State can breathe a sigh of relief and focus on putting together the pieces after a disastrous start to ACC play. Mark Gottfried’s gang left Pittsburgh with a 78-61 victory against the Panthers on Tuesday and now the Wolfpack have one league win, they can work on a second against a reeling Duke team.
Cat Barber was a monster against Pitt and might have had one of the best performances of the evening anywhere with 31 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Barber, now with three 30-point games this season, has been a warrior for the Pack, He’s played in all but 14 minutes of their six ACC games, and has grown more confident as their lead guard.
The players got tired of losing and tired of hanging Barber out to dry. Much of the 0-5 ACC start could be chalked up to Barber having to do too much. But the last two games have been different.
Abdul-Malik Abu had another double-double on Tuesday, his eighth in 10 games, and he’s starting to step into the role as the primary complement to Barber. And with Barber getting more consistent scoring help from Abu, and the occasional breather from Cody Martin at the point, NC Sate is starting to find the best possible version of itself.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
A lack of depth has caught up with the Blue Devils. Coach K rotates six players almost all the way and mid-season fatigue could be playing a part in the team’s three-game slide. What’s worse, the last two of those losses came at Cameron Indoor, which is almost unheard of in the recent history of Duke basketball. Add the inexperience of this year’s roster and the Blue Devils will find it difficult to stay above .500 in the ACC. But as Krzyzewski has shown us in the past, he is an amazing coach who always comes up with the right answer. This isn’t the first time the program has faced adversity. Heck, it happened last season, and the season before that, and the season before that. This Duke team may not be the deepest Coack K has had, it may not be the most talented, and it certainly isn’t the most balanced, but they’re still 14-5 overall and a few plays away from being undefeated in ACC play. Don’t count them out just yet.
Duke 73, North Carolina State 68
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