Duke Blue Devils vs North Carolina State Wolfpack Prediction, 1/4/2023 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Duke Blue Devils vs NC State Wolfpack

Date: Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Location: PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC

TV: ACCN

PNC Arena is the location where the NC State Wolfpack (11-4) will go up against the Duke Blue Devils (11-3) on Wednesday.

The Duke Blue Devils faced Florida State and earned the victory with a final of 86-67 in their last game. Concerning fouls, the Blue Devils ended up walking away with 21 while Florida State recorded 19 fouls. They made 4 out of their 15 shots from long range. Florida State finished the contest at 80.8% from the free throw line by making 21 of their 26 tries. Furthermore, Florida State pulled down 23 boards (4 offensive, 19 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Florida State earned 11 assists and had 7 steals in the matchup. In relation to defense, Duke allowed 42.9% from the floor on 21 out of 49 shooting. They also recorded 18 assists in this game while forcing 10 turnovers and having 2 steals. When discussing hauling in boards, they earned 27 with 9 of them being offensive. From the free throw line, the Blue Devils knocked down 17 of 20 attempts for a percentage of 85.0%. Duke wrapped up the game having earned a 50.9% FG percentage (29 of 57) and converted 11 of their 25 three-point shots.

Ryan Young is one player who was a major contributor in the game. He notched 20 points on 7 of 7 shooting. He was on the hardwood for 24 minutes and grabbed 12 boards. He walked away from this one shooting 100.0% from the field and dished out 2 assists.

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Duke heads into this game with a win-loss record of 11-3 this year. They are averaging 73.9 pts per game (147th in Division 1) while connecting on 44.4% from the field. The Blue Devils are shooting 32.6% on shots from downtown (99 of 304) and 78.5% from the charity stripe. As a team, Duke is grabbing 39.3 rebounds per game and has racked up 204 assists for the season, which ranks 134th in D-1 in terms of passing the ball. They are turning it over 11.7 times per contest and as a unit are committing 15.5 fouls every game.

On defense, the Blue Devils are forcing 13.2 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 17.6 fouls. They are conceding 27.8% on shots from downtown while they are 26th in college hoops in opponents PPG (60.9). The Blue Devils defensively are allowing a FG percentage of 40.6% (315 of 776) and they relinquish 29.9 boards per game as a group. They are currently ranked 72nd in the nation in giving up assists with 155 surrendered so far this season.

When they last stepped on the hardwood, the NC State Wolfpack took a loss by a final score of 78-64 against Clemson. The Wolfpack recorded 26 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds totaling 36 in the game. They also turned the ball over 8 times, while recording 4 steals for the contest. Clemson was called for 17 personal fouls for this game which took the Wolfpack to the free throw line for 18 attempts. They were able to convert 14 of those for a rate of 77.8%. Regarding shots from beyond the perimeter, North Carolina State made 8 of their 31 attempts (25.8%). When this game wrapped up, the Wolfpack went 21 for 68 from the field which gave them a rate of 30.9%. The Wolfpack permitted Clemson to convert 25 of their 60 attempts from the field which gave them a percentage of 41.7% for the contest. They shot 30.0% from behind the 3-point line by going 6 of 20 and ended up shooting 22 out of 24 from the free throw line (91.7%). With respect to how they cleaned up the glass, North Carolina State permitted Clemson to get 38 in total (8 offensive).

Terquavion Smith was important for the Wolfpack for the contest. He made 5 of 21 in this contest giving him a rate of 23.8%, and had 3 rebounds. He recorded 21 points in his 34 minutes on the court and earned 3 dimes for the game.

North Carolina State has a record of 11-4 on the season. When it comes to executing on offense, the Wolfpack are shooting 45.3% from the field, which is 146th in college basketball. North Carolina State has scored 1,193 points this season (79.5 per game) and they collect 38.1 boards per game. They are earning an assist 14.8 times per contest (97th in college hoops) and they turn it over 11.1 times per contest. The Wolfpack have committed 17.0 fouls per contest and they shoot 71.2% from the charity stripe.

The Wolfpack are ranked 171st in the nation in points allowed per contest with 68.3. They are forcing their opponents into 14.6 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 43.1% from the floor (200th in college basketball). The North Carolina State defense concedes 31.4% on 3-pointers (91 of 290) and opponents are connecting on 69.3% of their free throw attempts. They surrender 12.1 dimes and 34.2 rebounds per game, ranking them 158th and 187th in Division 1.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take North Carolina State

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