Duke vs Elon 12/18/21 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Elon Phoenix and the Duke Blue Devils meet in college basketball action from Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Elon Phoenix will look to build on a 63-61 win over Winthrop last time out. Torrence Watson has a team-high 12.2 PPG while Hunter McIntosh and Darius Burford each have 11+ PPG with Burford logging 11.5 PPG with a team-high 3.3 APG while McIntosh has 11.7 PPG and 3.2 APG. Zac Ervin has 10.4 PPG to cap off the group of double-digit scorers for Elon up to this point in the season. As a team, Elon is averaging 71.3 PPG on 42.3% shooting from the field, 36.4% from three-point range and 76.6% from the foul line while allowing 75.9 PPG on 43.7% shooting from the field and 40.8% from three this season.

The Duke Blue Devils come into this game on the heels of a 92-67 win over the Appalachian State Mountaineers last time out. Wendell Moore Jr. leads the Blue Devils in scoring and assists with 17.4 PPG and 5.1 APG while Paolo Banchero has 17 PPG and a team-high 7.1 RPG to lead the Blue Devils on the glass. Trevor Keels has 12 PPG with 3.5 APG to make up the trio of double-digit scorers for Duke so far this season while Mark Williams and Jeremy Roach each have 9+ PPG as well this season. As a team, Duke is averaging 86 PPG on 49.1% shooting from the field, 37.5% from three and 77.7% from the foul line while allowing 65.2 PPG on 40.7% shooting from the field and 31.3% from three this season.

I think you could argue that maybe Duke wouldn’t take teams like Elon seriously, but look at all of the games for Duke at home against lesser teams, the majority of them have been big time blowouts. Elon relies on the three for success and they’re only making half of the threes that they’re making compared to their mark at home. I think on the road, Elon’s going to struggle here and a 40+ point win for Duke would not surprise me here. Give me the Blue Devils.