Posted on
1/24/2008 4:10:47 PM
NCAAB Basketball Betting – Duke at Virginia Tech
By Charles Jay
The Duke Blue Devils (15-1 SU, 9-6 ATS), confident off a win over a strong Clemson team, travels to Blacksburg on Thursday night to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies (11-7 SU, 8-7 ATS) in an ACC battle starting at 7 PM ET from the Cassell Coliseum.
In the BetUS NCAA basketball betting odds, Duke is listed as an 8.5-point road favorite.
Here are some of the NCAAB betting trends and stats relative to this matchup:
* DUKE has won its last five games SU
* DUKE has covered its last three games
* DUKE has played five of its last six games UNDER the total
* DUKE has won six of its last seven road games SU
* DUKE has played four of it slast five road games UNDER the total
* VT has won five of its last seven games SU
* VT has won its last five home games SU
* VT has covered three of the last four meetings
* Four of the last five meetings have gone OVER the total
* DUKE has had the rebounding edge in four of the last five meetings
* DUKE has made more three-pointers in each of the last five meetings
* DUKE averages 85 points per game
* DUKE shoots 48.7% from the field
* DUKE makes nine three-point shots per game
* DUKE averages 8.3 steals a game
* VT allows 60.7 points per game
* VT shoots 68.8% fromt he free throw line
* VT allows 39.2% shooting by opponents
* VT commits 14.9 turnovers a game
Duke, ranked # by the AP and #3 by the coaches' poll, is looking for revenge for last season's 69-67 heart-breaker that was doubly painful as it was suffered at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Of course, the Hokies had Jamon Gordon and Zabian Dowdell on hand to steady their backcourt. But now they have a minus-1.1 ratio of assists to turnovers.
Virginia Tech is no pushover; the Hokies have allowed just 51.3 points a game on their home floor - sixth in the nation - but without those veteran guards, they are going to have a hard time establishing their preferred grind-it-out pace, and slowing a Duke offense that rings up 85 a game, ranking Coach K's team fifth in the country.
Duke has great balance, with six players averaging between 9.1 and 14.3 points. Freshman forward Kyle Singler and senior guard DeMarcus Nelson are both hitting over 50% of their shots. And Duke doesn't have to worry about overwhelming size or experience on the Virginia Tech side.
Let's lay the points with Duke, the 8.5-point favorite in the BetUS NCAAB betting odds.
BetUS NCAA basketball betting odds: DUKE -8.5
JAY'S PLAY: DUKE
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(Charles Jay of TotalActionExtra.com gives it the old college try as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)