Duke at North Carolina 2012 College Basketball Picks: Losing three out of 10 games isn’t all that bad for most college basketball schools; unless you’re Duke University. After having the rug jerked from beneath them on Sunday by Miami U, at what is considered the toughest home court venue in the country at Cameron Indoor Stadium, for their second home loss in their last three home dates. Wednesday night the Blue Devils have a much more difficult task looming; playing a few miles up the road against North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Duke is currently in third place in the ACC Men’s standings behind co-leaders North Carolina (21-3, 7-1 ACC) and upstarts Florida State (16-6, 7-1). ESPN will televise tonight, the second of a nationally televised double-header with a 9 pm ET tip-off.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook TopBet.com list the Tar Heels as 6-chalk favorites on home court with a combined score (over/under) of 156. Duke backers are getting +220 College Basketball Odds on the offshore moneyline to pull off a SU upset win while the price of a SU Tar Heels victory is -260 ($260 wager to win $100).
Sunday left a bitter taste in the Blue Devils’ mouth after Miami came away with a 78-74 overtime win in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Hurricanes had the edge in the paint, as Duke could not stop 6-10, 280-pound center Reggie Johnson who scored 27 points in the upset.
North Carolina has won five games in a row and 14 of its last 15 entering a week when it will face the 10th ranked Blue Devils. Wednesday’s game will be the Tar Heels’ third this season against a team ranked in the Top 10 of the AP poll. UNC went 1-1 in the first two of those games, beating No. 9 Wisconsin at home in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and losing by a point at top-ranked Kentucky. Carolina is 16-10 against top-10 teams in the Roy Williams era. North Carolina leads the all-time series with Duke, 131-101.
Duke received 40 points from its bench in Sunday’s game against Miami, Seth Curry scored 22, Quinn Cook (8) and Ryan Kelly (8). Duke has gotten at least 40 points from its bench three times this season. Kelly leads all Duke players with 123 points off the bench. Duke defeated the Tar Heels twice last season at Duke and in the ACC Tournament. Duke dropped the lone game at North Carolina.
With a career-high matching 16 assists in Saturday’s win at Maryland, sophomore guard Kendall Marshall registered double-digit
assists for the 10th time this season and has handed out at least 15 assists in four of those games. Junior John Henson added 17 points and 12 rebounds vs. the Terps for his 29th career double-double and his ninth this season. With 22 points vs. the Terps, Tyler Zeller reached double fi gures for the eighth straight game and the 18th time this season. Zeller has averaged
17.8 points and 11 rebounds over those last eight games.
Tonight’s game will be highly competitive but I look for the Tar Heels to come away with a decisive win. My Pick – Tar Heels -6.
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