The NC State Wolfpack (22-8, 12-7 ACC) square off with the Duke Blue Devils (21-8, 12-6) Tuesday. Tip from Cameron Indoor Arena is at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the NC State vs. Duke odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
Jon Scheyer became the winningest first-year coach in Duke history with the Blue Devils’ 81-65 victory over Virginia Tech Saturday. A win Tuesday would make him the third Division I coach to go undefeated at home in his first season, joining Jim Boeheim and John Calipari.
Duke will be looking to avenge an 84-60 loss to NC State on Jan. 4. The Blue Devils lost that one outright as 5.5-point favorites as the Under (145) connected.
NC State averages 78.7 points (31st in the nation) and will be looking to once again take advantage of a Duke defense that allows 63.9 points per game (31st). Duke scores just 72.2 points per game (166th) thanks in part to its remarkably bad 3-point shooting (33.7%, 212th). If the Blue Devils want to pull off the historic victory, the 3-point shot will need to fall.
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NC State at Duke odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:25 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): NC State +220 (bet $100 to win $220) | Duke -270 (bet $270 to win $100)
- Against the spread (ATS): NC State +6.5 (-115) | Duke -6.5 (-105)
- Over/Under (O/U): 145.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
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NC State at Duke picks and predictions
Prediction
Duke 76, NC State 73
Moneyline
PASS.
Duke (-270) is far too overpriced considering it lost the last meeting by 24 points.
While the Blue Devils are likely to win, I am still not willing to wager so much on a straight play and I would rather make a play on either the spread or the total.
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Against the spread
NC STATE +6.5 (-115).
Duke covered the spread last time out with an 81-65 victory as a 6.5-point favorite over Virginia Tech Saturday. However, it’s 1-10 ATS in its last 11 games following an ATS victory. The Blue Devils are also 2-8 ATS in their last 10 Tuesday games and their last 10 games against a team with a win percentage over .600.
Despite NC State getting blasted 96-71 by Clemson Saturday, it is still a solid ACC team and I do not think it will be blown out 2 games in a row. Take the underdog to cover.
Over/Under
OVER 145.5 (-105)
This is tough as the first meeting did not get to this number, but Duke only managed to get to 60 points on the road in that one. The Blue Devils should be able to put up more points at home while the Wolfpack with continue to score a bit as well.
Duke has gone Over the total in 23 of 28 games against a team with a winning record and NC State has gone Over in 9 straight following a game in which it allowed more than 90 points.
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