The Duke Blue Devils know Madison Square Garden well. It feels like they take at least one trip there every season, and this year is no exception. They'll be back at MSG this Saturday to face the Utah Utes in what might turn out to be a relatively dangerous non-conference tussle.
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HOW THE UTAH UTES CAN COVER THE SPREAD
We were a little shocked by the fact that Wichita State ran the Utes off the court last weekend, but it was a little bit more evidence that they're going to struggle this year against the top teams they run up against.
It's also becoming increasingly clear that this is a two-man team. Jordan Loveridge and Jakob Poeltl will carry the Utes to wins and be the reason they suffer their losses this year. Last week against Wichita State, these two combined to shoot just 4-of-10 from the field for 20 points.
The key in this one is going to be getting both men involved early and often. Anything less than 30 points between the two is going to be considered an epic failure, and the end result would probably equate to yet another blowout loss.
HOW THE DUKE BLUE DEVILS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
You have to go back before Thanksgiving to find the last time Duke won a game by fewer than 19 points. The Blue Devils are rolling, albeit in a bunch of home games against generally iffy teams, but they've got that look of a Final Four team once again.
For the most part, Duke has just gone with a smaller lineup with Amile Jefferson out of the fold with a foot injury which will also cost him the rest of this calendar year and perhaps beyond. Marshall Plumlee and Brandon Ingram have done their share of rebounding, but this isn't Yale or Utah State on the other side of the court anymore. This is a very good Utah team with a monster in Poeltl who must be tamed.
Plumlee seems to be too slow to stop Poeltl, while Ingram just isn't big enough. There isn't that athletic 6-foot-10 type of guy who can both body with and run with Poeltl on the court like the Dookies had with Jefferson, but if some combination of men can slow him down just a bit, this game probably becomes a walk in the park.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
We know that Utah can score some points, but the games against the best teams on its schedule this year have been underwhelming. Scoring 50 on Wichita State, 74 on Temple, 66 on Miami and 73 against Texas Tech tells us that there could be an issue here.
Let's not forget that the Blue Devils knocked the Utes out of the NCAA Tournament last season with an ugly 63-57 win as well.
The score line won't be nearly as low in this one, as we do expect to see at least a modest degree of success coming from both offenses, but in the end, the Blue Devils are just far too athletic to be stopped by a two-man team.
These are the types of teams which Duke has historically beaten up, and this won’t be the exception.
Duke 79, Utah 63
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