Duke Blue Devils vs Mercer Bears Free NCAA Basketball Picks & Odds
by Josh Schonwald - 3/18/2014
Friday, March 21, 9:15 AM on CBS
PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Opening Lines & Odds - Duke -13 -- Over/Under: 140.5
For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here
The No. 3 seed Duke Blue Devils (26-8, 13-5 ACC) will take on the No. 14 Mercer Bears (26-8, 14-4 A-Sun) in Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday morning. The Bears are the second team in the Atlantic Sun Conference to make it to the NCAA Tournament, making it just their third overall appearance. They're coming off a key win over the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (Dunk City), a Cinderella team that made it to the Sweet 16 last year. If the Bears want to be another Cinderella team this year, they have a tough task in front of them with Duke.
The Bears will look for help from Seniors Daniel Coursey, Jakob Gallon, and Langston Hall. Hall had 15pts and 7 rebounds in their last game against Florida Gulf Coast and averages 14.7 pts a game and 5.6 assists.
Duke will most likely look for a boost from experienced players like Rodney Hood, who averages 16.4 pts a game and has an .806 free-throw percentage. Jabari Parker will be another huge factor in the game. He averages 19.3 pts per game and 8.8 rebounds. He was such a good player and threat all season long that he won the Wayman Tisdale Award as top freshman in the nation.
The bigger story here will probably be who will Duke play next. It's nice to think that another Cinderella team could come out of the Atlantic Sun, but the reality is, playing in Raleigh against number four seeded Duke, the recipe for success just does not look good. But Duke is coming in off of a disappointing loss to the Virginia Cavaliers, and that may of took some air out from under their wings.
ATS Trends
Duke is 18-15-1 ATS this season
Duke is 14-15-2 against the over/under this season
Mercer is 2-3-0 ATS this season
Mercer is 1-1 against the over/under this season
Injuries to Watch
Duke
No Key Injuries to Report
Mercer
No Key Injuries to Report
Josh's Pick: Take Duke
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