The La Salle Explorers and the Duke Blue Devils meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Cameron Indoor Stadium. La Salle is currently 4-0 on the year. The Explorers beat Southern Indiana in their last outing over the weekend. As for Duke, they’re sitting at 3-1 overall following a win over Bucknell on Friday. This is our La Salle vs Duke Prediction.
La Salle Explorers
The Explorers are doing great in the record column so far, despite having a few close escapes in the books. La Salle took out Drexel 67-61 in their opener, then beat Northeastern 79-74 in game two. In the Bucknell matchup, La Salle took a 69-57 win thanks to 42.6 percent shooting and a 40-35 rebounding edge.
Back on Saturday versus Southern Indiana, La Salle had another close game—and another victory. The Explorers were down 36-31 at the break, then scored 48 more points from there in a comeback 79-78 result. Tops in scoring was Khalil Brantley with 30 points and five rebounds. Daeshon Shepherd added 17 points with eight rebounds.
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Duke Blue Devils
Over on the Duke side, they’ve had some tough matchups so far this year with mixed results. The Blue Devils beat Dartmouth 92-54 in the opener before falling 78-73 to a great Arizona team on November 10. Duke bounced back with a 74-65 win over Michigan State, shooting 44.9 percent from the field with 40 rebounds and 17 team assists.
Duke managed another victory on Friday versus Bucknell, and this one wasn’t close. The Blue Devils were up 44-29 at the break, scoring 46 more points in a 90-60 blowout win. Mark Mitchell led the way in scoring with 20 points and six rebounds. Jared McCain added a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll take a stab on La Salle. You could argue this one either way, though. The Explorers are doing very well so far this year, but needless to say they haven’t encountered an opponent like Duke just yet. La Salle is coming off a pretty permissive game versus Southern Indiana, allowing 53.3 percent shooting from the field and 43.5 percent from 3-point range along with a 32-29 rebounding deficit. Duke shouldn’t have any issues whatsoever compiling a big total in a blowout victory here, but I like La Salle’s offense well enough to think they can sneak in for a cover.
