Duke vs Virginia prediction, college basketball game preview, how to watch: Monday, February 7
Duke vs Virginia How To Watch
Date: Monday, February 7
Game Time: 7:00 ET
Venue: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, NC
How To Watch: ESPN/ESPN+
Record: Duke (19-3), Virginia (14-9)
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Duke vs Virginia Game Preview
Why Virginia Will Win
As always, Virginia knows how to slow things down to a dead stop and make you play its game.
As always, the defense is terrific, there’s a good inside presence to hold up against the Duke interior, and the offense doesn’t allow a whole lot of easy plays and transition points by giving the ball away.
It’s absolutely this simple. Virginia is going to keep the game low-scoring. Does it hit its shots or not?
The Cavaliers are 8-1 when making at least 46% of its shots, and 6-8 when it doesn’t. That’s almost always a direct function of assists for this team. When it can make that one extra pass, it makes the most of its possessions, and it wins.
But …
Why Duke Will Win
Virginia is just way too inconsistent.
Even when it’s making the threes it’s not always pulling off wins.
Free-throws are a must . The Cavaliers have to get to the line – that’s not a given – and they have to hit 78% or better. They do that, and they’re 6-0. The problem is that Duke doesn’t foul.
Along with all of the other good things the Blue Devils are doing lately, they’re not getting hammered for a ton of fouls.
For this to work, Virginia needs to get to the free throw line at least 15 times. Duke has allowed just three teams to get to the line for more than 15 attempts in just three games.
There’s that, and …
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What’s Going To Happen
Duke is shooting out of its mind lately.
There were struggles from the outside against Notre Dame, but everything seemed to go down inside and out in the blowout over North Carolina.
Virginia might have the D, but in a game with limited possessions and quality overcoming quantity, the Blue Devils will just shoot better.
Duke vs Virginia Prediction, Lines
Duke 73, Virginia 62
Line: Duke -12, o/u: 129
ATS Confidence out of 5: 1.5
Must See Rating: 3
5: Most of the Winter Olympic sports
1: Dying, like most people would do if they tried any of the Winter Olympic sports
