Hurricanes blow into Durham seeking upset of Blue Devils
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
02/05/2012 -
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The seventh-ranked Blue Devils will look to keep
up the race for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference as they host the
Miami-Florida Hurricanes for a bout at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
This will be the 18th meeting in the all-time series. Duke has a 15-2 record
against Miami after its 81-71 victory on Feb. 13th, 2011 in the last
encounter.
Miami comes into tonight's game with a 13-7 overall record after it took down
the Maryland Terrapins 90-86 in a double-overtime thriller on Wednesday. The
victory was the third in a row and the fourth in five games. The Hurricanes
have been playing well on the offensive end as of late, as they have not been
held under 40 percent shooting in six games. Miami pulled down a season-high
43 rebounds in the win over Maryland. Miami has outscored its opponents by an
average of 4.7 ppg this season so far. Head coach Jim Larranaga will face a
tough challenge, as he is taking his squad that is carrying a 3-5 road record
into one of the toughest atmospheres in college basketball.
Larranaga will look to Malcolm Grant, Durand Scott, Kenny Kadji, and Reggie
Johnson to push past the Blue Devils in this one. All four of the mentioned
Hurricanes are carrying double-digit scoring averages with Grant leading the
pack with 13.3 ppg. Scott is the team's second leading scorer after he poured
in 24 points in the team's win over Maryland. Kadji had been unstoppable as of
late, averaging 18.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game in his last
three outings, but he was absent from the lineup versus the Terrapins after a
head injury he suffered during practice. Johnson provides size up front and
scores just over 10 ppg and also is reeling in a team-best 6.5 rpg.
Mike Krzyzewski has yet another talented Duke squad on his hands as his team
is near the top of both the conference and national rankings. The Blue Devils
have won three straight and in six of their last seven outings. Duke improved
to 19-3 overall and 6-1 in league play with a 75-60 decision over Virginia
Tech on Thursday night. The Blue Devils shot 44.4 percent from three-point
range and committed a season-low seven turnovers to push past the Hokies their
last time out. Duke has been one of the best in ACC action this year, as they
are outscoring their conference rivals by an average of 8.6 points per
contest.
The Blue Devils' balanced attack is highlighted by its blue chip freshman
Austin Rivers. The rookie guard is leading the team with 14.3 points per
contest on 44.6 percent shooting from the field. Mason Plumlee is averaging
just under a double-double with 11.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. Ryan
Kelly and Seth Curry both made solid contributions off the bench in the team's
win over Virginia Tech. Kelly netted 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the
field while Curry contributed 11 points in 23 minutes of action.
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Pacific-10 Conference odds
Teams that should be in: Stanford
 Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.
Should be in:
Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.
| Southeastern Conference odds |
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State
 It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.
Work left to do:
Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.
Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.
Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.
Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile. |
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