A pair of Top 5 teams in the college basketball rankings will do battle on Saturday night as the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils get a visit from the No. 1 Syracuse Orange in marquee action.
Syracuse edged Duke 91-89 but failed to cover the 4-point spread at home in their first meeting of the season on February 1. That game turned out to be an OVER result for totals bettors on the college basketball betting lines.
The line opened with Duke favored by 5.5 points but it was bet up to -6 early Saturday at Sportsbook. Duke is 8-2 ATS in its past 10 games overall while the UNDER is 12-2 past 14 Syracuse games.
Duke battles the Orange, currently sitting with a 25-1 mark (15-7 ATS). The OVER/UNDER records, always important for totals bettors, are 12-14-1 for the Blue Devils and 7-14-1 for the Orange.
View Syracuse Orange vs Duke Blue Devils Odds and Stats.
Bettors looking to side with Duke in this one found them as 5.5-point favorites earlier in the day. Watch for line moves and updates at Sportsbook before gametime.
The Power Rankings at Odds Shark show No. 35-rated Syracuse taking on the No. 1-rated Blue Devils in this contest.
Syracuse lost its last outing, a 62-59 result against Boston College on February 19. They failed to cover in that game as a 13.5-point favorite. Syracuse got 20 points and 11 rebounds from C.J. Fair in a losing cause in their 62-59 loss to Boston College on Wednesday.
Duke lost its last outing, a 74-66 result against North Carolina on February 20. They failed to cover in that game as a 2-point favorite. Duke got 17 points from Quinn Cook but lost anyway, 74-66, to North Carolina on Thursday at Dean Smith Center.
How They Match Up:
Rating these schools in several key categories is important for handicappers and Duke has the nation's No. 17-rated offensive output, at 80.59 PPG. The visiting Orange defense ranks No. 7 allowing on average 58.35 PPG. The Blue Devils FG% has averaged 46.76% so far, more than the Orange marksmen have achieved on the year, 44.84% per game.
A few Orange at Blue Devils trends to consider:
Syracuse is 8-4 ATS in its last 12 games
Syracuse is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games
Syracuse is 24-1 SU in its last 25 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Syracuse's last 5 games
Duke is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games
Duke is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games
Duke is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games at home
Duke is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Next up:
Syracuse at Maryland, Monday, February 24th
Duke at Virginia Tech, Tuesday, February 25th
