Duke Blue Devils vs. Louisville Cardinals analysis & spread tips

Betting Line: Duke -6.5
Over/Under: 151.5 at Bovada

The second-ranked Duke Blue Devils put their perfect road record and seven-game win streak on the line facing a dangerous Louisville team with big NCAA ambitions of their own.

The Cardinals are the 16th-ranked team in the nation, but have hit a flat spot of late, losing two of their last three games against top 25 teams.

Duke is riding high with a commanding winning streak and on top of that they took out the third-ranked Virginia in its last game. Not only did they get the win in that game, but it was on the road and they put up 81 points on a Virginian team that ranks first in the nation in points allowed per game.

The Blue Devils are the fourth highest-scoring team in the nation and are loaded with the likes of freshman stars R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson, who will likely be the #1 pick in the next NBA draft.

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Louisville had won six in a row before losing two of their last three games, The Cardinals are in 3rd place in the ACC two games back of Duke and North Carolina, who are tied atop the conference. Louisville has a good overall defense holding teams to an average of 68.5 ppg, but in the two losses in their last three games they have given up 79 and 80 points respectively.

This season Louisville is 12-2 at home and Duke is 5-0 on the road.

This season Duke is 15-8 ATS and they have an Over/Under record of 6-15-2 and Louisville is at 13-9-2 ATS with an Over/Under record of 12-12.

This is the first game between these teams this season.

Duke is 4-1-1 ATS in their last six games facing Louisville.

In their last game Duke was on the road to take on 3rd ranked Virginia and they got a big win beating them 81-71. They shot a sizzling 57.8% from the floor and an even hotter 61.8% from behind the three-point arc and they allowed Virginia to shoot 46.7% and also forced 17 turnovers. Four of five starters for the Blue Devils scored at least 13 points led by Barrett with 26 points on 8/.15 shooting and nailing six of his 10 3-pointers and Williamson went for 18 points and five rebounds and was 6/8 from the floor.

Barrett (23.1 ppg) and Williamson (21.8 ppg 9.2 rpg) are the two young guns for Duke and they are the two top scorers and the players that Louisville has to key on. Cam Reddish is the only other player for the Blue Devils averaging in double figures at 13.6 ppg and he has averaged 19 ppg in his last three games.

Louisville was on the road in their last game where they lost to the 22nd ranked Florida State Seminoles 80-75 in overtime. They could not hold a six-point halftime lead and also lost even though they shot 48.1% from the floor and FSU only shot 37.7%. Turnovers killed the Cardinals, as they had 23 of them and only forced eight. Christen Cunningham led the way for Louisville with 20 points on 6/13 shooting, Dwayne Sutton had 14 points, and while Jordan Nwora had 13 points he was only 3/13 from the field and missed all six of his three-pointers.

Nwora is the leading scorer for the season for the Cardinals leading three players averaging double digits at 17.6 ppg. He has been struggling as of late and he has not only averaged 13 ppg in his last three games, but in that span, he is only a combined 12/39 from the floor. On the other side of the coin Sutton (11 ppg) has averaged 16.7 ppg and 7.7 rpg in his last three games.

Duke Blue Devils betting trends

• 4-0 ATS in their last four games
• 4-1 ATS in their last five road games
• 7-2 ATS in their last nine games after an ATS win
• Under record of 15-5-2 in their last 22 games

Take advantage of these betting trends with the best online bookies

Louisville Cardinals betting trends

• 5-2 ATS in their last seven games
• 7-1 ATS in their last eight games after a loss
• Under record of 23-9-2 in their last 34 home games vs. a team with a winning road record

Duke Blue Devils vs. Louisville Cardinals betting prediction

While Louisville has covered the spread in seven of their last eight games following a loss, do not look for that trend to continue.

Duke is simply too strong and will light it up on both ends of the court.

The Blue Devils will win and cover the spread, winning their eighth game in a row and sending Louisville to its third loss in their last four games and, perhaps, out of the top 25.

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