The No. 25 Duke Blue Devils (14-5, 5-4 ACC) will try to remain in the top 25 against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-12, 1-9) in Atlanta Saturday at 3 p.m. ET (ACC Network). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the Duke vs. Georgia Tech odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
No. 25 Duke comes into this contest after losing 78-75 on the road against Virginia Tech Monday as 2.5-point underdogs. This game came at an additional cost as SF Dariq Whitehead was injured and will miss time. His absence will be felt on the scoreboard for Duke, who is already lacking in this department at only 72.2 points per game.
The Yellow Jackets average 68.9 points on offense this season. The defense of Duke, which ranks 49th in the nation, is allowing only 64.3 points. This does not bode well for a Georgia Tech team looking to gain its 2nd conference victory. With the talent gap in this game being so large, it will be difficult to make shots for Georgia Tech. GT has struggled in this area all season at 42.1%, which is only 307th in the country and another day of bad shooting can be in store once again in Atlanta.
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Duke at Georgia Tech odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated 11:25 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Duke -500 (bet $500 to win $100) | Georgia Tech +350 (bet $100 to win $350)
- Against the spread (ATS): Duke -8.5 (-120) | Georgia Tech +8.5 (+100)
- Over/Under (O/U): 137.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
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Duke at Georgia Tech picks and predictions
Prediction
Duke 70, Georgia Tech 64
Moneyline
PASS.
Despite playing without Whitehead, Duke is the far superior team. I am still not willing to spend more than 5-to-1 to make a play on them though.
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Against the spread
GEORGIA TECH +8.5 (+100) is the spread wager to make.
Duke has been terrible in recent games against the spread. It is 0-6 in its last 6 road games and 0-6 overall.
Playing their first game without Whitehead could take some adjustment time for the Blue Devils, and it would be a risky play to count on them in this one.
Over/Under
UNDER 137.5 (-105) for the total here.
While the Yellow Jackets have gone Over in their last 4 games overall, Duke is coming in looking to just gain a victory here in its first game without Whitehead. It will look to clamp down on defense and should have no trouble doing this against an overmatched Georgia Tech. The 248th ranked Yellow Jackets offense will struggle against the Blue Devils defense, which is only allowing 64.2 points. This one will stay Under the 137.5 total.
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