Duke Blue Devils (18-8) vs. Syracuse Orange (16-10)
February 18, 2023 6:00 pm EDT
The Line: Syracuse Orange +1.5 / Duke Blue Devils -1.5 ; Over/Under: 140
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The Duke Blue Devils and the Syracuse Orange meet Saturday in college basketball action from the Carrier Dome. Duke enters this matchup at 18-8 overall. The Blue Devils beat Notre Dame in their last matchup. As for Syracuse, they’re 16-10 on the season following a Valentine’s Day win over NC State. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Duke Blue Devils
Duke managed to go a pretty solid 13-5 over their first 18 games of the year. The Blue Devils are 5-3 in their last eight games, beating Miami, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Notre Dame with losses to Virginia Tech, Miami and Virginia.
In the Notre Dame matchup on Tuesday, the Blue Devils were up 31-23 going into the second half. Duke was outscored 41-37 from there but hung on for the 68-64 win. Kyle Filipowski was the only team double-digit scorer with 22 points and six rebounds.
Syracuse Orange
Over on the Syracuse side, they went a similar 12-6 across their first 18 games of the season. The Orange went 4-4 over the next eight outings, beating Georgia Tech, Boston College, Florida State and NC State alongside losses to Miami, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Virginia.
Matched up against NC State on Tuesday, the Orange hit a 35-31 advantage in the first half. In the second, Syracuse was outscored 41-40 but ended up with the 75-72 victory. Judah Mintz scored 20 points and Jesse Edwards doubled on 18 points and 16 rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll take a stab on Syracuse here. You could make a case either way, though; both teams are coming off solid wins and the ACC is a dice-roll proposition right now anyway. That said, Syracuse posted a nice win over a very good NC State team in their last outing, shooting 43.5 percent with 16-of-17 from the line (94.1 percent) along the way. That makes a three-game win streak for the Orange with 75 or more points scored in each outing. As for Duke, they’re 4-2 in their last six games and playing pretty well themselves. I like this one to be close the whole way with Syracuse ultimately pulling off the home cover/win. Should be a fun one.
