Duke at Virginia Spread, Free Pick & TV Info

Posted by Michael Hunt on Tuesday,February 14, 2017 9:27, EDT in

Just one game featuring two ranked teams on Wednesday night and it’s a big one from the ACC as No. 12 Duke, which is starting to play to preseason expectations, visits No. 14 Virginia. The loser can probably forget about winning the ACC regular-season title. Here’s a look at the college basketball spreads.

Duke at Virginia Spread, Free Pick & TV Info

When: Wednesday, Feb. 15, 9 PM ET
Where: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville
TV: ESPN2
Stream: WatchESPN
Radio: Duke / Virginia
Opening NCAAB Lines: TBA

Why Bet On Duke?

The Blue Devils won their fifth straight Saturday, 64-62 in a bit of a trap game vs. Clemson after taking out ACC leader and rival North Carolina the game before. Clemson had a chance to win it or send it to overtime after Elijah Thomas rebounded Frank Jackson’s missed 3-pointer in the final seconds. Duke’s Luke Kennard deflected a pass out of bounds near midcourt with 4.3 seconds left to set up Clemson’s final inbounds play. Donte Grantham inbounded the ball in the backcourt to Shelton Mitchell, who dribbled toward the right wing but couldn’t get a clean look against Jones before the buzzer sounded.

Duke used the starting lineup of Grayson Allen, Kennard, Matt Jones, Jason Tatum and Amile Jefferson for the second straight game and sixth time this season. The Blue Devils are 6-0 this season with those five players on the floor to start the game.

Kennard scored a game-high 25 points, marking the ninth time this season he’s led the Blue Devils in scoring. Kennard also recorded double-digit points for the ninth-straight contest and 24th time this season while surpassing 20 points for the second straight game and 13th time in 2016-17. After shooting 2-of- 7 from the floor with five points in the first half, Kennard went 5-of- 8 in the second half for 20 points. Kennard scored 15 straight Duke points from 12:11 to 4:41 in the second half.

Jefferson brought down nine rebounds, bringing his career total to 860. Jefferson sits five rebounds away from tying Art Heyman for 14th on Duke’s all-time rebounds list. Duke moved to 11-1 this season and 36-3 all-time when Jefferson leads the Blue Devils in rebounds.

Duke (20-5, 8-4) hit 11-of- 26 (.423) 3-pointers while Clemson connected on 2-of- 9 (.222) from behind the arc. Duke moved to 8-1 this season when shooting 40 percent or better from behind the arc. Duke’s defense limited Clemson to 5-of- 28 (.179) from the floor and 0-for- 5 from beyond the arc in the first half. Clemson’s 17.9 percent first half shooting percentage marked the lowest for a Duke opponent in any half this season

Why Bet On Virginia?

The Wahoos (18-6, 8-4) were stunned at Virginia Tech 80-78 in double overtime on Sunday. Seth Allen hit a short jumper in the lane with 3.2 seconds left in the second overtime as Virginia Tech beat Virginia for the second consecutive year at Cassell Coliseum, just the second win for the Hokies in the rivalry in the last 11 meetings. The winner came after Allen missed on a driving try at the end of regulation, but the Hokies were rescued by Ty Outlaw’s tip-in with 1 second left, forcing overtime.

In the first overtime, Virginia’s London Perrantes drove for what appeared to be a go-ahead layup with 21 seconds left, but the ball bounced on the rim, rolled around and died against the backboard. The officials called a jump ball, the Hokies had the possession arrow and escaped again. In the second half, the Hokies shredded Virginia’s defense, shooting 58.3 percent from the floor. As costly as the Cavaliers’ defensive breakdowns were, however, their poor free-throw shooting was a bigger factor. The `Hoos came in shooting 71.7 percent from the line, but they made only 14 of 24 free throws on a night when the Hokies hit 20 of 26. Seven Cavaliers went to the line Sunday night. Each of them missed at least once.

Even Perrantes, who came in shooting 78.4 percent from the line, had an off night there. Perrantes finished with a game-high 22 points, but he missed two free throws, including the front end of a one-and-one early in the first OT.

UVA and Tech played the second double overtime contest in series history (Feb. 25, 1976, UVA 75-73 win in Charlottesville). UVA played its first double overtime game since Jan. 3, 2015 (89-80 win at Miami) The Cavaliers ended the first half on a 13-0 run and led 37-23 at intermission The 14-point halftime lead was the largest surrendered by UVA in a loss this season (12 at Syracuse on Feb. 4). UVA is 1-3 when out-rebounded (41-38) in ACC action.

“It’s important to let ‘the one that we just played go, because if we sit on it, it affects our next game,’ junior forward Isaiah Wilkins aid. “We’ve just got to learn from this March Madness-style game and be ready to play Wednesday.”

Duke at Virginia Free Pick: Duke Blue Devils

Only scheduled meeting between Duke and UVA this year. The Blue Devils won the lone one last year at home on a Grayson Allen buzzer-beater. This one figures to go right down to the wire as well and I like the home side in NCAA betting.