They’ve lost two games and trail Virginia in the ACC standings by a half-game, but the Duke Blue Devils, with a collection of young talent that could probably give some NBA teams a stiff test, are the most high profile team in college basketball. Led by the top draft pick in the next NBA draft, Duke hammered St. John’s over the weekend for its fifth straight victory and Zion Williamson continues to put up massive numbers while slamming a few highlight reel dunks every game. The Boston College Eagles are just trying not to get embarrassed when they visit Cameron Indoor on Tuesday.
Boston College Eagles at Duke Blue Devils
Date and Time: Tuesday, February 5, 2019, 7 p.m. ET
Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, NC
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Boston College at Duke TV Coverage: ESPN
Live Betting Odds Analysis
Losing a pair of home games to Syracuse and Notre Dame certainly doesn’t help BC as they embark on the most difficult road trip in the conference. The Eagles showed signs that they were possibly turning a corner with back-to-back wins over Wake Forest and Florida State, but they couldn’t keep the good times rolling, losing to Syracuse with seldom-used Buddy Boeheim, the coach’s son, tossing a few dagger threes at them.
The Eagles weren’t expected to contend for the ACC crown and they’ve been a bust so far with a 2-6 league mark. They’ve played five true road games this season and have been good to their backers in those matchups with a 5-0 ATS record.
When the Dookies get on a heater like they did against St. John’s, they are unbeatable. Playing against a double-digit line for the fourth straight game, Duke ambushed the Johnnies 91-61 behind their offensive attack that ranks third in the country with 87.4 points per game. Duke covered the 17-point spread and is 3-1 ATS in those four games. Overall the Devils are 19-2 with their losses coming by a combined six points. They’ve won five straight since falling to Syracuse in an overtime stunner.
Player to Watch
Williamson continues to make NBA teams salivate over his skill and well-rounded game. The No. 1 pick in the NBA draft scored 29 points in Duke’s latest win, hitting 13 of 17 shots with most of them on dunks or layups inside the paint. It’s amazing he had four missed shots, though two of them came from behind the arc.
Doing more than just scoring the basketball, Williamson again stuffed the stat sheet with six rebounds, five steals and two blocks. He’s scored at least 22 points in each of Duke’s last six games while shooting 60 percent or better from the floor each time. He’s produced a total of 14 games with at least 20 points and has eight double-doubles. A powerful force in the paint, the Eagles will have a hard time defending him with a smaller lineup, so look for the man-child to go off on the live betting lines at BookMaker.eu.
Injury Report
The Eagles have been without second-leading scorer Wynston Tabbs the last three games and the offense has sputtered in key stretches. Tabbs was averaging nearly 14 points per outing before being shelved with a knee injury and it’s unlikely he returns to the court on Tuesday. BC has scored below its season average of 74.1 points in each of those three games and is averaging fewer than 70 points
Key Stat
There aren’t many holes in Duke’s game, but one glaring weakness is the inability to shoot from deep. The Blue Devils haven’t needed the three-pointer and there is time to figure things out, but the bottom line is that they just aren’t very good in that aspect of the game.
As a team the Dookies are shooting 30.9 percent from behind the arc and only one starter tops that mark. Cam Reddish has made 33.8 percent of his triples and leads the team by going 50 of 148. Reserves Justin Robinson and Alex O’Connell have higher percentages but have made just 22 triples between them.
College Basketball Live Betting Picks
The Blue Devils will again be heavily favored on the college basketball betting lines at home against a lesser opponent, and there is no reason why they should lose this game. We did see and energized Syracuse team waltz into Cameron Indoor a few weeks ago and pull off the stunner, so it can happen. But that game gave the freshman a glimpse of what can happen if you take a team lightly. Duke won’t do that again and with Williamson going off, the Dookies will cruise to another victory.
College Basketball Score Prediction: Duke 87, Boston College 71
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