Virginia Cavaliers vs Duke Blue Devils Prediction, 3/2/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Virginia Cavaliers vs Duke Blue Devils

Date: Saturday, March 2, 2024

Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC

TV: ESPN

The Virginia Cavaliers (21-8) are headed to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday where they will play the Duke Blue Devils (22-6).

The Virginia Cavaliers faced Boston College and went home with a win by a final score of 72-68 in their last contest. In the matter of personal fouls, the Cavaliers ended up with 13 and Boston College had 15 personal fouls. They converted 5 of 22 shots from beyond the arc. Boston College ended up shooting 83.3% from the charity stripe by burying 15 of their 18 shots. Additionally, Boston College snagged 29 rebounds (6 offensive, 23 defensive), but wasn't able to record a block. Boston College earned 12 dimes and had 5 steals for this game. In the matter of the defense, Virginia allowed 41.4% from the field on 24 out of 58 shooting. They also recorded 12 dimes for the matchup while forcing 4 turnovers and getting 3 steals. In reference to rebounding, they earned a total of 36 with 7 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Cavaliers made 16 of 22 tries for a percentage of 72.7%. Virginia ended the contest with a 44.4% field goal percentage (24 of 54) and made 8 of their 21 shots from beyond the arc.

Reece Beekman is one guy who came through for the matchup. He finished 62.5% from the field and also totaled 8 dimes. He played for 32 mins and collected 5 boards. He was able to score 18 points on 5 of 8 shooting.

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Virginia enters this game with a win-loss record of 21-8 for the season. They lose possession via turnover 8.2 times per game and as a unit they commit 13.9 personal fouls every game. As a team, Virginia is pulling in 32.7 boards per contest and is sitting with 436 dimes for the season, which has them ranked 58th in Division 1 in terms of passing. The Cavaliers are connecting on 36.5% on shots from beyond the arc (183 of 502) and 64.7% from the free throw line. They average 63.7 points per outing (354th in the nation) while connecting on 43.8% from the field.

Defensively, the Cavaliers are able to force 12.3 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 13.3 fouls. They currently rank 52nd in D-1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 317 surrendered for the season. The Cavaliers defense is allowing a FG percentage of 39.6% (603 of 1,521) and they concede 34.0 rebounds per game as a basketball team. They are surrendering 31.1% on three-point shots and they are ranked 3rd in college hoops in points per game allowed (58.7).

In their last game, the Duke Blue Devils walked away with a victory by a final of 84-59 against Louisville. The Blue Devils were able to pull down 30 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards totaling 42 for this game. They coughed up the ball 14 times, while getting 8 steals for the game. Louisville had 14 fouls for this game which got the Blue Devils to the charity stripe for a total of 16 shots. They were able to knock down 9 of the free throws for a rate of 56.3%. With regard to 3-point attempts, Duke made 11 of their 22 tries (50.0%). When the final whistle was blown, the Blue Devils shot 32 out of 57 from the floor which had them at 56.1%. The Blue Devils permitted Louisville to knock down 23 out of their 56 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 41.1% in this game. They wrapped up this game 17.6% from downtown by connecting on 3 of 17 and ended up shooting 10 out of 19 from the free throw line (52.6%). In the matter of cleaning up the glass, Duke allowed Louisville to get 24 overall (8 offensive).

Jeremy Roach pitched in for the Blue Devils for the matchup. He knocked down 8 of 11 for this contest for a field goal rate of 72.7%, and earned 6 rebounds. He tallied 19 points in his 35 mins of playing time and added 1 assist for the contest.

Duke has a record of 22-6 on the campaign. The Blue Devils are responsible for committing 15.9 personal fouls every game and they connect on 72.6% from the free throw line. They are assisting teammates 15.7 times per game (43rd in college hoops) and they are giving up possession 10.0 times per contest. Duke has earned 2,255 pts this season (80.5 per game) and they snag 36.6 rebounds per game. When it comes to offensive execution, the Blue Devils are connecting on 48.5% from the field, which ranks them 23rd in college basketball.

The Blue Devils on the defensive end are ranked 61st in college basketball in points per game surrendered with 67.4. They are forcing 11.5 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 43.1% from the floor (150th in college basketball). The Duke defense gives up 32.0% on 3-point shots (191 of 597) and opponents are making 69.6% of their free throw shots. They relinquish 12.7 assists and 31.3 rebounds per contest, which is 166th and 19th in college hoops.

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

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Virginia

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