North Carolina vs. Duke Prediction: Do Kyle Filipowski, Blue Devils Have the Advantage Over the Tar Heels?
The No. 7 North Carolina Tar Heels face their rival the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils to end the regular season. Do Kyle Filipowski and the Blue Devils have the advantage over the Tar Heels? Krabs breaks down this rivalry game.
Krabs - March 9, 2024, 1:00 PM EST
5 minNorth Carolina vs. Duke Prediction: Do Kyle Filipowski, Blue Devils Have the Advantage Over the Tar Heels?
As we reach the tail-end of the college basketball regular season, there are some extremely important games pertaining to conference standings on Saturday. Let me take you down to Durham, North Carolina as the Duke Blue Devils welcome in their rival, the UNC Tar Heels for another top-ten matchup between two blue-bloods. Will Duke earn a share of the ACC regular season title, or will UNC sweep the season series? More importantly… which team will cover?
North Carolina vs. Duke DATE, TIME, AND WHERE TO WATCH
- Date: March 9, 2024
- Game Time: 6:30 pm ET
- Where to Watch: ESPN
North Carolina vs. Duke Prediction
I’m willing to bet the Blue Devils defend their home floor for their 16th win at Cameron Indoor Stadium this year. UNC got the better of their rival back in early February, but this Duke team is currently playing their best basketball of the season. It’s been their defense that’s improved the most, holding four of their last five opponents to less than 64 points.
Duke’s problem in the first matchup against UNC was their defense. They couldn’t slow down Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram at all, dropping a combined 46 points in a 93-84 win against the Blue Devils. Since that game, Kyle Filipowski and Mark Mitchell have done a much better job defending the interior down the stretch. It won’t be as easy for North Carolina’s bigs to score inside on Saturday…
The Blue Devils have been playing with a chip on their shoulder since the Filipowski court-storming incident at Wake Forest a couple of weeks ago. Since that game, they have beaten their three opponents by a combined score of 236-171. North Carolina is coming off an 84-51 route against Notre Dame, but before that they struggled against NCST and MIA. They got the win in both of those contests, but the Tar Heels haven’t looked nearly as sharp as they did at the beginning of the season.
Since Coach Scheyer took over for Coach K at Duke, they have been nearly unbeatable on their home floor. The Blue Devils are 15-2 at home this season, and they’ve covered the spread in twice as many games as they haven’t at Cameron Indoor Stadium. These might be the two best teams in the ACC by far this season, but Duke is trending upward, and UNC is treading water, hoping to hold onto their ACC regular season title.
Fade the Tar Heels, and back Filipowski and the Blue Devils at home in this spot. They are the best team in the ACC this season, and they’ll show it in their final home game of the season on Saturday.
North Carolina vs. Duke Pick
DUKE -4.5 (-110) Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
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