Virginia Tech Hokies vs. Duke Blue Devils 3/29/19, Prediction & Odds

Hokies vs. Blue Devils Prediction

The top-seeded Duke Blue Devils will see a familiar foe tonight when they square off with the fourth-seeded Virginia Tech Hokies in the Sweet 16. Can Duke bounce back from an underwhelming performance last weekend to cover the spread tonight?

Game Snapshot

669 Virginia Tech Hokies vs. 670 Duke Blue Devils

Friday, March 29, 2019

Capital One Arena at 9:39PM ET

TV: CBS

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Public Betting Information

According to oddsmakers at BetNow.eu, the Blue Devils are a 7-point favorite on the spread line. The over-under is set at 143 points. As of Friday afternoon, 57 percent of public bets are being placed on Duke. Check out our College Basketball Public Betting Page for up-to-date info.

Hokies take down Flames

Virginia Tech notched a 67-58 victory Sunday over Liberty in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to move to 26-8 on the season. The Hokies outscored the Flames 38-26 in the second half after trailing by three at halftime. Virginia Tech shot 24-of-57 from the floor, 7-of-16 from 3-point distance plus 12-of-16 at the free throw line on its way to the win. Kerry Blackshear Jr. paced the Hokies with 19 points on 8-of-19 shooting plus 3-of-5 at the free throw line. He also ripped down nine rebounds. Ahmed Hill accounted for 14 points, two boards and two steals. Justin Robinson tallied 13 points, four assists, two caroms and two steals off the bench. Ty Outlaw added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Blue Devils win thriller over Knights

Duke watched in panic and then jubilation as the Central Florida potential game-winning putback rimmed out Sunday afternoon in a 77-76 victory to advance to the Sweet 16. The Blue Devils (31-5) were outscored 40-33 in the second half, but ultimately managed to hang on. Duke shot 30-of-67 from the field, 10-of-25 on 3-point attempts plus 7-of-12 at the free throw line. Zion Williamson tallied 32 points to lead the way on 12-of-24 shooting including 3-of-7 from 3-point range plus 5-of-7 at the free throw line. He also accounted for 11 rebounds and four assists. R.J. Barrett tallied 16 points, eight boards and four assists. Cam Reddish contributed 13 points, four rebounds and two assists. Tre Jones added 11 points, four dimes and three boards.

College Basketball Betting Trends

Virginia Tech

The Hokies are 7-0 ATS in their last seven Friday games. Virginia Tech is 6-2 ATS in its last eight neutral site games.

Duke

The Blue Devils are 1-5-1 ATS in their last seven games overall. Duke is 0-4 ATS in its last four Friday games.

Prediction:

Virginia Tech is a talented team and has a 77-72 home win over Duke to its credit, but let's not forget Williamson was out for that game. The Blue Devils have not lost the five games since Williamson returned from the knee sprain and after the huge scare against Central Florida, I expect to see a very focused effort by Duke here. The Blue Devils realize that hype alone isn't going to win them games. Virginia Tech didn't exactly overwhelm its last two weaker foes and I don't think it will have enough to hang around in this one.

 

NCAA DAILY PREDICTION: DUKE BLUE DEVILS -7