The Duke Blue Devils are 4.5-point underdogs as they prepare to face the No. 1 seed Houston Cougars on Friday night (9:39 p.m. ET), and according to three of ESPN’s college basketball experts, the Blue Devils’ run will end there in the Sweet 16.
All three experts predicted that the margin of victory would be within 5 points, but all three are backing the Cougars to best the Blue Devils.
According to Jeff Borzello, “the Cougars’ physicality and pressure on the defensive end could rattle Duke’s guards from the outset and I don’t think the Blue Devils have an answer for Jamal Shead.” He picked Houston to win, 69-65.
Myron Medcalf, meanwhile, believes Houston can’t possibly have a tougher set of circumstances during the game compared to their thriller against Texas A&M.
Via ESPN:
“But I’m not sure Houston will face more adversity than it did on Sunday with its top players fouled out and Texas A&M suddenly hitting shots and making plays it hadn’t made all night.”
You can see all of ESPN’s predictions for the Sweet 16 here – including a pick for Alabama to upset North Carolina.
Duke Wire’s Ryan Haley points to the Blue Devils’ defense, which was phenomenal over the first two rounds, to be the difference maker against Houston.
“Duke allowed the Dukes to shoot just 38% from the floor and 22% from three, and the Blue Devils have allowed 51 points per game in the tournament thus far. If that’s for real, and the offense has even a semblance of a groove back, this is the team Duke fans expected in the preseason.”
Haley predicted a Duke win by a score of 68-64.