The Princeton Tigers have their work cut out for them on Tuesday night as they travel to Durham to take on the Duke Blue Devils at the Cameron Indoor Stadium. After all, the No.2 ranked Blue Devils coming into play with just a single loss and a collection of top NBA draft prospects.
As for the Tigers, they’re still trying to find their way. Just over-.500, Princeton already has several losses to teams like Lehigh, Fairleigh Dickinson, and St. John’s. While Princeton has struggled, those losses came against lesser competition than the Blue Devils.
Can the Tigers surprise and keep this game close, covering the spread, on the road against an elite Duke team? Or will this just be an easy night for Duke at home?
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Princeton Tigers vs. Duke Blue Devils
Date and Time: Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 6 p.m. ET
Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina
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Tigers vs. Blue Devils TV Coverage: ESPN2
Duke enters this game playing some of its best basketball of the season. Ranked second in the nation, the Blue Devils are 9-1 in their first ten college basketball contests of the season. The team’s only loss came a couple weeks back to then No.3 Gonzaga who boasted a deep roster and more experience than the freshmen-led Blue Devils.
In the loss, Duke still managed to keep the game close, but came up short with Gonzaga shooting 52.3-percent from the floor as well as over 50-percent from three-point range. The team won the battle outside and had enough under the basket to compete with the Blue Devils.
Of course, since that game, the Duke freshman have gained more experience.
Duke is stacked inside, of course, and few teams aside from Gonzaga can match up there. R.J Barrett leads the team in scoring but is one of only two players with more than 20 PPG. Barrett has 24.2 PPG with 7.2 RPG. Meanwhile, Zion Williamson is just as prolific of a player. He’s at 20.4 PPG but has more rebounds at 9.0 per contest while also averaging a pair of blocks. Barrett is the better shooter, but Williamson offers good offense and elite defense.
The Blue Devils just pile on the talent with Cam Reddish. On most teams, Reddish would be the star inside the paint, but he’s the third guy in the pecking order for Duke. He’s still got 14.5 PPG.
All three of the aforementioned forwards are strong shooters on the perimeter as well, shooting at least 36.5-percent from three, allowing Coach K to use a four-forward set while still spreading the floor.
In the backcourt, the Blue Devils lean heavily on Tre Jones. He’s not a prolific scorer as that’s been left to Barrett and Williamson, but he’s a strong shooter and great ball handler with some solid defensive ability on the outside, too.
On the other side of this matchup, Princeton is a solid Ivy League program, but not one of the best. They come into play just over-.500 and have shown flashes here and there, but generally fallen short of expectations. They’ve already got some bad losses on their resume. They are, however, coming off a win to Iona.
In that game, Devin Cannady and Jaelin Llewellyn each scored 22 points as all five starters reached double-digits. The Tigers won the game 85-81. The 85 points scored tied for the season high.
Princeton isn’t as prolific an offensive team as Duke. The Tigers have just 73 PPG while also averaging a dozen fewer rebounds. Still, there are some bright spots. Cannady and Llewellyn are just that.
The two guards have 21.3 PPG and 19.5 PPG respectively while shooting exceptionally well, particularly from deep. This team isn’t great and pushing towards the basket but when the threes are sinking they can be pesky.
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We recently saw an Ivy League program upset a top-25 team when Penn toppled Villanova a week ago. Here, Princeton has the chance to do the same thing in back-to-back weeks, but this one seems a tougher sell.
Duke is a young team that’s slowly getting better and better. In fact, this Blue Devils team just took on an Ivy League opponent, Yale, and won in commanding fashion.
The Blue Devils simply have way more size and talent inside than Princeton can fathom. With Barrett, Williamson, and Reddish they have a trio that hung 60 points on Yale. This team can rebound and block inside as well. Princeton must do something to limit the front court to cover the spread in this one and the answer may come in the backcourt. They need to win the battle on the perimeter which is a hard sell, too, considering Tre Jones has been a dynamic point guard already.
This game figures to be a blowout, but there’s still plenty of player props and live betting opportunities for this game at BookMaker.eu.
Key Player
Barrett, Williamson and Reddish get most of the publicity for Duke—along with most of the points—but Tre Jones is the one that puts them in position to succeed, getting them the ball when they’re open and allowing this frontcourt to flourish.
Duke regularly starts four forwards with Jones the lone guard on the court. Of course, there are others that help in the backcourt throughout the game, but Jones shoots nearly 50-percent from the floor while offering a solid shot outside and 5.6 assists per game. He’s controlling the ball on the court while also contributing on defense with a few rebounds per game and some key steals.
At 29.1 minutes per game, Jones is the only Duke guard averaging more than 13 minutes on the court.
The backcourt is key in this one as Princeton will try and do most of its damage outside. The team cannot compete with the Blue Devils inside, but is getting solid scoring numbers from guards like Cannady and Llewellyn.
Tigers vs. Blue Devils Live Betting
This is a stacked Duke team. Look for huge performances from Barrett and Williamson as they continue to build their NBA stock. At the same time, Jones should be able to control the floor and set up Barrett and Williamson, along with Reddish, for plenty of success. This is a deep team with a powerhouse offense that will be able to score against Princeton.
In the end, the Blue Devils are the far superior team and they get to take on Princeton at home. Look for the hometown team to blow out the Tigers as they dominate inside the paint and on the perimeter. This team is better at nearly all facets of the game.
Princeton may be able to hang in there through the first half, but there’s just not enough there to expect Duke not to run away with it down the stretch.
Be sure to check out all the live betting at BookMaker.eu for this weekend’s college basketball action.
NCAA Basketball Score Prediction: Duke 94, Princeton 71
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