The Duke Blue Devils looked a little more like themselves earlier in the week when they took out Louisville at home. Still, there's a real threat to be beaten once again on Saturday at home, as the Virginia Cavaliers come to Cameron Indoor full of confidence and ready to pounce.
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SCHEDULING
Last week, we spoke about the Louisville game potentially turning out to be a rare spot in which the Blue Devils were underdogs at home. Duke hasn't been a pup in a game at Cameron Indoor against a team not named North Carolina since 1995, but that could all come to an end in this one. It should be remembered by live bettors that Duke is still 7-5-1 ATS here at home this year in spite of its recent extended poor stretch of play.
UVA hasn't been beaten since January 17, as it has won seven games in a row since that point, including taking road games both at Pittsburgh and Louisville. The Cavaliers last played on Tuesday against Virginia Tech, a 67-49 win which was barely covered at -15.5.
KEY MATCHUP
This game is going to be all about tempo and pace. Virginia is going to do everything it knows to keep the Blue Devils limited in transition to slow this game down, while the Blue Devils are going to hope to get out and run to make the Hoos uncomfortable.
Scoring on these Cavaliers though, is an incredibly tall task. Virginia has conceded 50 points or fewer in four straight games, all four of which have understandably easily gone under the total. It ranks No. 3 in the land in scoring defense at just 59.6 points per game, and the last time these two clubs hooked up, the Blue Devils only managed 69 points in the middle of last season.
Duke, which ranks No. 7 in the nation in scoring, does a lot of its work in transition off of long rebounds. This isn't a particularly great rebounding team, especially with each passing game that Amile Jefferson misses because of his foot injury. If the Cavaliers are knocking down most of their long shots or are hitting the glass and getting back on defense well, live bettors should see a very slow pace of play for much of this one, thus can expect a lower final total.
KEY STATS & TRENDS
The Blue Devils have played a few under games of late as well. They're 3-1 for under backers in their last four, though it should be noted that only one of those three was substantially under the total in the end.
Brandon Ingram has four double-doubles in his last six games for the Blue Devils, and he's scored at least 13 points in each of those college basketball games, raising his averages up to 16.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. He'll be expected to do better than that, particularly on the glass in this game, especially if Marshall Plumlee is neutralized.
The predictable Virginia/under parlay has been cashing a ton of late. The Cavaliers have pulled off their favorite double in three of their last four games and a total of four times already here in ACC play in 2016.
Still, this is easily the toughest road test of the year for Virginia, as its next toughest road games came against Ohio State and Louisville.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The matchup between the Virginia Cavaliers and Duke Blue Devils will go down Saturday, February 13, 2016 at 4:30 p.m. ET at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The matchup will be televised live on ESPN.
