Duke-Maryland Report
The Duke Blue Devils can clinch the ACC regular season title at the Maryland Terrapins Wednesday night. Here’s the scoop from BroburySports.com.
Duke should be a one-point road favorite at BroburySports. ESPN will thoroughly enjoy broadcasting this one at 9 pm ET. Also, don’t forget about No. 5 Kansas State (+9) at No. 2 Kansas with the Big 12 title still not decided.
Duke (25-4 SU, 17-9-2 ATS) is ranked fourth in the country. That’s a very strategic position as it puts them in line to get a March Madness’ top seed.
The Blue Devils have earned that right with solid play down the stretch. They’re on an eight-game winning streak (4-2-2 ATS) and have even won their last four on the road. Poor road play really plagued them earlier this season.
Duke is led by its three big scorers of Jon Scheyer (18.8 PPG), Nolan Smith (17.4 PPG) and Kyle Singler (17.1 PPG). They all rank among the top-10 in the ACC. Duke’s 79.2 PPG ranks 19th in the country.
Having three high scorers is obviously a plus, but Duke still needs more scoring in the post. The three players above do most of their damage outside. Center Brian Zoubek has moved into the starting lineup, and has seen his production increase, but he’s far from consistent.
Maryland has nine lives
No. 22 Maryland (21-7 SU, 15-9 ATS) is having a terrific season. That’s especially true in the ACC where they’re 11-3 SU. A win against Duke will put them in a tie for first place.
Maryland has a five-game winning streak of its own (4-1 ATS). The latest was a 104-100 overtime win at Virginia Tech. Guard Greivis Vasquez had 41 points on just 13-of 33 shooting. He leads the team at 19.5 PPG, with forward Landon Milbourne next at 13 PPG.
With the 104 points scored last game, Maryland improved to 80 PPG, just slightly ahead of Duke. Maryland is 7-4 ATS at home, with Duke 3-5-1 ATS in true road games.
One area Duke has a big advantage in is rebounding. They’re tops in the ACC in rebounding margin, while Maryland ranks 11th. Duke outrebounded them 39-34 in a 77-56 home win back on Feb. 13. The Blue Devils were 9 ½-point favorites.
Few are expecting Maryland to win this game, but we’ll see if they can defy their critics one more time.
Bet on Duke and Maryland at BroburySports.com!
Posted: 3/3/10 2:50PM ET