North Carolina vs. Duke NCAA rivalry analysis, odds & betting trends

Here we go again.

The biggest rivalry in all of college hoops takes place Wednesday night when the eighth-ranked North Carolina (20-5) heads down the road to take on top-ranked Duke (23-2) in what is always one of the biggest games of the NCAA Basketball season.

The Tar Heels have won eight of their last nine games with the only loss in that span against Virginia, which was ranked third in the nation at the time. UNC is a half a game behind Virginia and one game back from Duke in ACC play with six games remaining. The Tar Heels only rank 29th in the nation on defence, but they are the second-highest scoring team in the nation.

Duke recently reclaimed the top ranking in the nation with Tennessee coming off only their second loss of the season. The Blue Devils are loaded and feature the top two freshmen in the nation in R.J. Barrett (22.7 ppg) and monster Zion Williamson, who is averaging 22.4 ppg and 9.2 rpg and will be the #1 pick in the next NBA draft.

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Duke is in the midst of a nine-game win streak. They have a high-scoring offense ranked fourth in the nation in ppg, but they have a better defense than North Carolina, ranking a solid 52nd in the nation in points allowed.

This season Duke is 13-1 at home and North Carolina is 8-1 on the road.

This season North Carolina is 15-8-2 ATS and they have an Over/Under record of 12-13 and Duke is at 15-10 ATS with an Over/Under record of 7-16-2.

This is the first two games between these bitter rivals this season and they face off again at North Carolina in the regular season finale.

North Carolina is 15-6 ATS in their last 21 road games against Duke. On top of that the road team is 17-7-1 ATS in the last 25 games between these teams.

In their last game North Carolina was on the road and they throttled Wake Forest beating them 95-57. They played great on both sides of the floor shooting a sizzling 62.3% from the floor while holding the Demon Deacons to only 32.8% shooting.

The Tar Heels have three players averaging over 14 ppg led by Cameron Johnson (16.3 ppg), who went for 27 points in the last game. Luke Maye ranks second on the team averaging 14.5 ppg and leads them in rebounding and the Tar Heels frontcourt has a tall task trying to contain Williamson.

Duke is coming off a 94-78 win over NC State where they shot a similar FG%, but had 14 offensive boards while only allowing five and they had 15 more points from the free throw line. Williamson was big going for 32 points on 12/16 shooting and he has at least 12 rebounds in two of his last four games. Barrett went for a triple-double with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.

North Carolina Tar Heels betting trends

• 6-0 ATS in their last six road games
• 6-2 ATS in their last eight games
• Under record of 5-1 in their last six games

Take advantage of these betting trends with the best online bookies

Duke Blue Devils betting trends

• 4-1 ATS in their last five games facing a team with a winning road record
• Under record of 6-2 in their last eight games
• Under record of 20-8-1 in their last 29 home games

North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Duke Blue Devils betting prediction

The home team has been the solid bet between these teams over the last decade. However, that will not be the case in this game.

Barrett and Williamson will be too much for the Tar Heels to handle and Duke will win their 10th in a row and also cover the spread facing their bitter rival.

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