Are the Blue Devils going to come out deflated in the February 7th Virginia at Duke betting contest? Duke is coming off a dominant 87-67 win over arch-rival North Carolina on Saturday in what was coach Mike Krzyzewski’s last trip to Chapel Hill as he is retiring at the end of the season.
Saturday was an emotional win in a rivalry game, but Duke can’t afford to look past Virginia who has won three of their last four. Monday night’s pointspread has the Blue Devils favored by a whopping -11.5 points, which seems like a lot considering four of the last five meetings between these two teams have been decided by 2 points or less.
Virginia Plays Duke Well
Virginia is just 2-3 over the last five meetings with Duke, but two of the three losses came by a combined 3 points. The last two games between these teams at Cameron Indoor Stadium have been 72-70 and 66-65 Duke wins.
The Cavaliers are in a great spot in the February 7th Virginia at Duke betting matchup with the Blue Devils having the emotional contest in Chapel Hill on Saturday. UVA is also playing well though, beating Boston College and Miami over the last two games although both of those were in Virginia. The Cavaliers are just 3-5 on the road this season, but the road team has covered in 21 of the last 29 head to head meetings between these two teams.
Armaan Franklin led the way vs. the Hurricanes with 22 points, and he’ll need another big outing since Duke leads the ACC in scoring with 80.7 ppg (15th in the nation). Virginia counters with the best defense in the conference though, allowing just 59.5 ppg.
Blue Devils Need to Get Up
Duke needs to avoid the emotional letdown after winning Krzyzewski’s last game in Chapel Hill, but one thing that should help the Blue Devils ‘get up’ for Monday night’s meeting with Virginia is being back at home. Duke has been on the road for the last three games, have a quick stop at Cameron Indoor vs. UVA, then road for games at Clemson and at Boston College. The Blue Devils are 13-1 at home this year.
Duke has done well regardless of where they’ve played lately, winners of four straight and 7 of their last 8 overall. The Blue Devils are 9-2 in conference play, sitting atop the ACC with a one game lead over Wake Forest.
The Blue Devils offense has a tough matchup against a stingy Virginia defense on Monday night. AJ Griffin blew up for 27 points in the win over North Carolina on a scorching 11-17 shooting. Griffin has 22+ in two of his last three, forming a potent third wheel behind Paolo Banchero (17.5 ppg) and Wendell Moore, Jr. (14.2 ppg).
Free February 7th Virginia at Duke Betting Pick
Duke is on a roll lately, but although this isn’t the same caliber of team as Virginia has fielded in recent years they have a tendency to play the Blue Devils tight. When you factor in Duke having played so many road games recently including the big win in Chapel Hill over the weekend, the -11.5 points is just too many.
Virginia 61 – Duke 69
Free Pick: Virginia +11.5
