Injuries have wreaked havoc on the roster of the Duke Blue Devils early on this season. Freshmen Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden just returned from injuries for the first time this season against Maine, but now Grayson Allen and Frank Jackson are banged up and whether they play against the Florida Gators or not is in question. If Allen and Jackson can’t go, the Gators have a shot to pull off a very nice upset that would help them out come March.
This war on the floor will go down Tuesday, December 6, 2016, at 9;30 p.m. ET at historic Madison Square Garden. The game will be televised live on ESPN. We will have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
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After a disappointing first season under Mike White, the Gators have looked much better thus far this season. Florida is 7-1 SU and 4-2 ATS this season with big wins over Seton Hall and Miami and has only lost to Gonzaga. Four of the Gators’ six games have finished under the total.
Duke was expected to run roughshod over opponents this season, but the injuries have taken their toll on this team’s ability to cover spreads. The Blue Devils are 8-1 SU, but 4-4 ATS this season and haven’t put up the points that many expected. Seven of their eight games with an over/under have gone under the total.
Key Injuries
Without Bolden and Tatum, Duke was reliant on guard play to win games. However, now that Allen and Jackson are banged up and might not be able to play on Tuesday, the shoe is on the other foot. Bolden and Tatum showed flashes of their immense potential in their first action against Maine with Tatum running the floor like a guard and Bolden grabbing a rebound every 2.5 minutes.
The young guns still need some work though and showed they have some issues to work through. For Bolden, the problem was turnovers, as he turned it over three times in the 12 minutes that he was on the court. Tatum let the excitement of his first college game get to him. He was too eager to shoot and only shot 25 percent from the floor against the Black Bears. If Allen and Jackson can’t go, Duke will lean on the freshmen more and they must perform better.
Matchup to Watch
In Duke’s one loss this season, the Blue Devils struggled to find rhythm shooting from the floor against a Kansas team that is one of the top defensive units in the country and will face another one of the top defenses in Florida.
The Gators have held opponents to just 63.6 PPG on 40.5 percent shooting this season and are rated the 8th best defense in the nation by Ken Pomeroy. They have yet to allow an opponent to score more than 77 points against them this season and that superb defense has helped them beat good opponents despite not having a consistent scorer on the roster.
That defense has yet to face a team as talented as Duke though. The Blue Devils can do it all from anywhere on the court and will have the most dynamic offense in the country when everyone is healthy.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
This would be a huge win for the Gators if they could pull it off and announce that this team has officially turned the corner under White. They are already playing better than they did last season, but knocking off a Duke team that most still consider the favorite to win another title would be big.
Florida may be able to keep it close for a while, but Duke is eventually going to pull away. The Gators defense will be able to stifle the Blue Devils in the early going, but Duke will figure things out as the game progresses and put Florida to bed.
College Basketball Odds: Duke 87, Florida 75
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