Arizona Wildcats vs Duke Blue Devils on CBS – Odds, Free Picks, and Predictions -NCAA Basketball Betting 3/24/11: Forward Derrick Williams will lead the No. 5 seed Arizona Wildcats on the road to the Honda Center in Anaheim to take on guard Nolan Smith and the No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils Thursday evening at 9:45 PM ET on CBS Sports. The Wildcats have won 2 in a row to get to 29-7 – good for 1st in the PAC 10 – while the Blue Devils have won 5 consecutive and at 32-4 finished the season 2nd in the ACC but won the ACC tournament to get a No. 1 seed.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski won his 900th career game and feels like the Blue Devils are in an flex period as they adjust to having freshman Kyrie Irving back from injury. “We’re in a period of adjusting to Kyrie coming back, so we got better as the week went along,” Krzyzewski said after Irving’s first two games back came in NCAA Tournament victories. “We now know that Kyrie will play and he can play extended minutes, which we didn’t know coming in. Played pretty well and he kept getting better,” Krzyzewski said. “We know that he wants to be there with pressure. That’s a big thing going forward.” The odds makers at JustBET have the Duke Blue Devils a -9 point favorite in the sweet 16 round against the Arizona Wildcats.
The Blue Devils are coming off a tight victory 73-71 over the Michigan Wolverines to move to 20-15 ATS for the season. Smith led the way with 24 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists while Kyle Singler added 13 points with 8 boards and 4 assists. The total has gone UNDER in 11 of last 15 games. Vegas odds makers have the Duke Blue Devils +350 to win the 2011 the NCAA Championship.
The Wildcats are coming off a victory 70-69 over the Texas Longhorns to move to 18-15-1 ATS for the season. Forward Derrick Williams led the way with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists while forward Solomon Hill chipped in 16 points, 8 boards and 2 assists in the win. “It’s never to your advantage going against them in this tournament,” second-year Arizona coach Sean Miller said. Vegas odds makers have the over/under for the total score at 148 1/2 points combined of the Arizona Wildcats and Duke Blue Devils.
I predict a Duke Victory and cover!
GAME: No. 5 Arizona (29-7) vs No. 1 Duke (32-4)
TIME: 9:45 PM EST
TELEVISION: CBS
VEGAS ODDS: Favorite: Duke -8.5 Total: Over/Under 148
* Vegas Betting Lines at Ceasars Palace
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FREE PICK: Duke -9
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