Duke Blue Devils at Florida State Seminoles
Wednesday, 1/12/11, 9:00 PM EDT, TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: Duke -7.5
Current Betting Line: Duke -8.5
Opening Total: 144.5
Current Total: 143
Duke faces Florida State on Wednesday night inside the Donald L. Tucker Center for its first ACC road game of the season. The Blue Devils won their first 14 games by an average of 25.9 points, but received a bit of a scare in their 71-64 victory over Maryland on Sunday night. “I’m very pleased to have won the game and in the manner that we did because we could have been dead in the water,” said coach Mike Krzyzewski. The team has now won 25 consecutive games overall and 27 consecutive games against unranked opponents. Duke is off to its best start since the 2005-06 team won its first 17, matching the school’s best opening. The squad is 0-2 ATS in conference play this season and currently a road favorite on the college basketball liens page.
The Blue Devils have recorded a 30-6 all-time record against the Seminoles and have won five consecutive games and 10 of the last 12 in the series. Krzyzewski has garnered a dominating 28-5 mark against Florida State. It’s important to note due to tonight’s point spread that 10 of the last 15 games in the series have been decided by 10 points or less. The team is led by senior Nolan Smith on the offensive end, as he is averaging 19.5 points and 5.0 assists per game. He has an ACC-best four games with at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. Duke has put together an impressive 212-58 record when playing away from Cameron Indoor Stadium since the 1997-98 season.
Florida State has defeated three No. 1 ranked teams in school history and is set to host Duke tonight. The Seminoles have already defeated one ranked team this season with a 68-61 victory over No. 15 Baylor in the third place game of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. Many experts believe that it’s highly unlikely that an upset will occur in tonight’s matchup due to Duke averaging 90.4 points on 53.2 percent shooting in its five games away from Durham. Florida State has defeated 12 nationally ranked teams at home during the nine-year tenure of head coach Leonard Hamilton. The squad is 0-2 ATS at home this season and 1-9 ATS versus good defensive teams that hold opponents to under 64 points per game.
The Seminoles are led by the scoring exploits of forward Chris Singleton, who is averaging nearly a double-double of 21.8 points and 9.3 rebounds in his last four games. Florida State is the third winningest program in the ACC in the last six years, winning 49 games against conference competition over that span. Tonight’s matchup comes down to the team’s ability to stop the Blue Devils on the offensive end, as they’ve held three ranked opponents to an average of 58.0 points per game on the year.
Bettors will be interested in fading the Blue Devils due to their 1-5 ATS mark as a favorite of 7.0 to 12.5 points, while the Seminoles are 20-6-1 ATS as a home underdog.
The college basketball handicappers at Maddux Sports are enjoying an incredible season and can’t wait for you to join them tonight.
