No. 9 Duke Blue Devils vs. No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels
Wednesday, 2/8/12, 9:00 PM EST, TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: North Carolina -7
Current Betting Line: North Carolina -7
Opening Total: 159.5
Current Total: 160.5
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
Duke will look to bounce back after suffering a 78-74 overtime loss to the Miami Hurricanes as 12-point home favorites, as it travels to Chapel Hill to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels inside the Dean Smith Center. Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski is 36-36 all-time in this rivalry, including an 11-14 mark in tonight’s venue. The program has won four of its last five games in the series. Duke is 11-6 ATS in February the last two-plus years, while the “under” is 14-4 in that particular situation.
The Blue Devils have not lost back-to-back games in quite some time, posting a 14-0 record following a loss since February 2009. Duke has managed to win those games by an average of 14.6 points per game. Seth Curry is certainly a player to watch on the floor in this contest, averaging 17.7 points in three games against North Carolina last season. Freshman guard Austin Rivers will also be a factor, ranking 12th among freshman in scoring with a team-high 14.5 points per game.
North Carolina will open the second half of Atlantic Coast Conference play Wednesday night and will look to move its win streak to six games. The Tar Heels have tallied an impressive 23-4 mark in their last 27 conference games. Senior forward Tyler Zeller has really led the team since the start of ACC play, averaging 17.8 points and 11.0 rebounds in eight games. Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams has faced a Duke team coming off a loss five times, posting three wins in those affairs. North Carolina is 4-4 ATS as a home favorite of 6.5 to 9 points the last two-plus years.
The Tar Heels are 60-32 all-time against the Blue Devils when playing in Chapel Hill, coming away with an 81-67 victory as 1.5-point favorites a year ago. When the first game of this rivalry is played in Chapel Hill, North Carolina is 0-4 during the Williams’ era. Some bettors will want to take a look at the first half in this contest, as the average halftime lead in the past four games in this series has been 16.8 points.
Bettors will likely back the Blue Devils due to their 8-3 ATS mark following a straight-up loss, while the home team is 2-7 ATS in the last nine meetings.
Don’t miss out on a winning season and let the college basketball handicappers at Maddux Sports line your pockets with cash. Long term packages are available now!
