The No. 1 Duke Blue Devils finally found out who their first-round opponent would be after the No. 16 North Dakota State Bison earned a First Four win Wednesday to enter the tournament. Duke heads into this contest riding a three-game winning streak, while North Dakota State is looking to pick up its sixth win in a row. As expected, the Blue Devils are huge 27-point favorites with the total Sportsbook at 148 points.
North Dakota State vs Duke Game Center
Standout Stats
- When Zion Williamson returned to the lineup at the outset of the ACC tournament, Duke rattled off three straight wins, including earning redemption over rival North Carolina, but only covered one of those games. Meanwhile, North Dakota State is on a roll with a five-game winning streak, including edging NC Central 78-74 in their play-in game Wednesday. The Bison have an average winning margin of 6.6 through their streak, while the Blue Devils’ winning margin is 7.67 in their last three.
- These teams are quite different when it comes to filling the basket as Duke averaged 83.5 points per game this season, while North Dakota State only chipped in 72.5 ppg. A similar story can be written on the defensive side of the ball, with the Blue Devils surrendering 67.6 ppg and the Bison yielding 73.8 ppg.
- The offensive approach of these clubs is completely opposite too as North Dakota State gets 40.1 percent of its scoring from downtown, while Duke gets 55.7 percent of its points from two-point range. Defensively, the Blue Devils rank seventh in college hoops in opponent three-point percentage at 29.3 and the Bison rank 273rd in opponent two-point shooting percentage.
- Duke and North Dakota State have had vastly different paths to the national tournament as the Blue Devils have had the second-toughest strength of schedule, while the Bison’s SOS ranked 221st.
- It’s going to be an uphill battle for the Bison to get extra points as they rank 335th in rebounds per game, while the Blue Devils are No. 2 in the country on the glass.
My Best Bet for North Dakota State vs Duke
Duke -27
The Blue Devils are the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament and they have the advantage in every aspect of this game. I expect Duke to just absolutely dominate the glass and I can’t see North Dakota State having any answer for either R.J. Barrett cutting through the key or the size and speed of Zion Williamson.
