Miami Hurricanes vs Duke Blue Devils Betting Odds and Game Preview


Miami Hurricanes vs Duke Blue Devils Betting Odds and Game Preview

At 4:00 PM Eastern on Saturday, March 2nd the University of Miami Hurricanes will travel to Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on the mighty Duke Blue Devils in a great NCAA weekend matchup. The game will be televised on CBS.

Duke is an overwhelming favorite in this game, as they average 13 points per game more than Miami (85.5 to Miami’s 72.5) and out-rebound Miami 42.2 to 33.4 (average per game). Duke also has only lost one game in their last 11 and are currently ranked 3rd in the nation.

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Miami, meanwhile, is currently 12-14, unranked, and struggling to get back into their early season form, when they rattled off five wins in a row to start the season before losing 4 in a row and 12 of their next 16.

The Hurricanes are led by sophomore Chris Lykes, who has 431 (16.6 ppg) points on the season and netting 42.2% of his FGs.

The silver lining for Miami is that they are starting to enjoy some success, namely an 80-65 victory over Georgia Tech last Saturday. That win gave them a 3-2 record in their previous 5 games. With one game in hand against Wake Forest on Tuesday, the Hurricanes hope to barge into Duke’s backyard and catch them by surprise.

Duke is still dealing with the loss of young superstar Zion Williamson, who sprained his knee in a freak accident when his shoe broke. There is no timetable for his return, but it does not look like he will be able to participate on Saturday.

Before his injury, Williamson had put up 561 points on the season in 732 minutes played. The 6’7, 285 lb freshman, averages .683 in FGs and is considered the best of his draft class.

Fortunately, Duke has the kind of supporting cast that can make up the difference. Fellow freshman RJ Barrett is also putting up great numbers this season, with 630 points over 927 minutes. Last Saturday against Syracuse, he put up his sixth 30-point game of the season with Williamson out of the lineup.

Both Williamson and Barrett are not only candidates for national player of the year but are also predicted to go very high in the upcoming NBA draft.

This Saturday’s game will be the fourth for Duke after losing Williamson, so they should have had time to adapt for his absence instead of getting surprised like they were on February 20th tilt, against North Carolina in which they were caught by surprise by his loss and ended up losing 88-72, which was only Duke’s 3rd loss on the season.

While currently ranked 3rd, thanks to the loss to UNC, Duke has been ranked 1st at three different points in the season and is looking to get back to that position as soon as possible. A couple of wins this week, including Saturday’s game against Miami, should go a long way in getting them back to that spot.