Duke Blue Devils vs Louisville Cardinals Prediction, 1/23/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Duke Blue Devils vs Louisville Cardinals

Date: Saturday, January 23, 2021

Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Duke (+3)

KFC Yum! Center is the site where and the Louisville Cardinals (9-3) will play the Duke Blue Devils (5-4) on Saturday. Louisville opens this game as 3-point favorites. The O/U has been set at 139.

Duke heads into this one with a win-loss record of 5-4 so far this year. They currently have an average of 74.6 points per game (121st in Division 1) while going 44.6% from the field. The Blue Devils are shooting 33.3% on shots from beyond the arc (73 of 219) and 66.7% from the free throw line. As a unit, Duke is snagging 37.9 rebounds per game and has earned 133 assists on the year, which ranks 255th in Division 1 in terms of passing. They are turning it over 13.6 times per game and as a squad are committing 18.6 personal fouls every game. When they are on defense, the Blue Devils are forcing their opponents into 14.6 turnovers per contest while drawing 15.8 personal fouls. They concede 37.3% on shots from distance and they rank 234th in Division 1 in PPG allowed (72.3). The Blue Devils are giving up a shooting percentage of 46.3% (231 of 499) and they surrender 33.3 boards per game as a group. They are currently ranked 71st in D-1 in giving up assists with 114 surrendered on the year.

The Duke Blue Devils faced the Pittsburgh Panthers and took a loss by a final of 79-73 in their last contest. Duke walked away from the contest with a 38.6% FG percentage (27 out of 70) and knocked down 8 of their 28 shots from downtown. From the free throw line, the Blue Devils buried 11 of their 19 shots for a rate of 57.9%. In terms of rebounding, they compiled 42 with 14 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 18 dimes for this game in addition to getting 8 steals and 5 blocks. When discussing defense, Duke allowed their opponent to shoot 38.6% from the field on 27 of 70 shooting. Pittsburgh recorded 21 assists and had 6 steals in this contest. In addition, the Panthers pulled down 39 boards (7 offensive, 32 defensive) and earned 5 blocks. Pittsburgh ended up going 64.9% when shooting free throws by knocking down 24 of 37 shots. They also knocked down 7 out of their 20 shots from downtown.

Jalen Johnson is a player who came through for the contest. He was able to score 24 points on 8 of 14 shooting. He saw the court for 33 minutes played and also grabbed 15 rebounds. Johnson finished the contest at 57.1% from the floor and also earned 7 assists. Someone else that played a role in this contest for the Blue Devils was Wendell Moore. He had 4 rebounds and also collected 2 dimes. He walked away from this one shooting 50.0% from the floor in the matchup by connecting on 5-of-10 (15 points). When the game finished, Moore was on the court for 31 minutes.

Louisville has a record of 9-3 on the campaign. Louisville has totaled 848 pts on the season (70.7 per contest) and they pull in 36.9 boards per contest. The Cardinals are committing 18.2 fouls per contest and they go 73.7% from the charity stripe. As an offense, the Cardinals are shooting 47.0% from the floor, which is 76th in D-1. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 11.8 times per game (281st in college basketball) and they lose possession via turnover 12.3 times per game. The Cardinals defensively are ranked 67th in D-1 in points allowed per contest with 65.5. They are forcing 11.8 turnovers on a nightly basis and allow teams to shoot 40.8% from the field (82nd in D-1). The Louisville defense allows 32.3% on three-point shots (90 of 279) and their opponents are connecting on 65.5% of their shots from the free throw line. They relinquish 11.0 dimes and 31.8 total rebounds per game, which has them ranked 54th and 56th in college hoops.

When they last stepped on the court, the Louisville Cardinals took a defeat with a final score of 78-65 when they faced the Florida State Seminoles. The Cardinals recorded 20 defensive rebounds and 13 offensive boards for a total of 33 for this contest. They also rejected 2 tries while getting 3 steals in the game. The Seminoles committed 19 fouls for the matchup which got the Cardinals to the free throw line for 18 shots. They were able to knock down 11 of those for a rate of 61.1%. Regarding shots from 3-point land, Louisville made 4 of their 16 attempts (25.0%). When the final whistle was blown, the Cardinals shot 25 for 57 from the field which had them sitting at 43.9%. The Cardinals permitted the Seminoles to make 31 of their 62 tries from the field which had them at 50.0% for the matchup. They finished 42.9% from beyond the arc by going 9 out of 21 and ended up going 7 out of 10 from the charity stripe (70.0%). When discussing how they cleaned up the glass, Louisville allowed Florida State to get 35 in total (11 offensive).

Carlik Jones was important for the Cardinals in this game. He buried 5 out of 12 for the contest for a field goal rate of 41.7%, which had him finishing with 17 points. Jones pulled down 2 rebounds in his 36 minutes played and earned 3 dimes for the game. An additional guy that ended being a contributor for Louisville was David Johnson. He walked away with 15 points in 34 minutes on the hardwood by going 6 out of 13 from the floor for the game. Johnson walked away from this one going 46.2% from the floor while earning 2 assists and 8 boards.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Louisville (-3)

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