Pittsburgh Panthers vs Duke Blue Devils Prediction, 1/7/2025 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Pittsburgh Panthers vs Duke Blue Devils

Date: Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC

TV: ESPN+

The Pittsburgh Panthers (12-2) are hitting the road to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday where they will attempt to beat the Duke Blue Devils (12-2).

The Pittsburgh Panthers played Stanford and earned the victory with a final of 83-68 in their last contest. Pittsburgh ended the game with a 56.4% FG percentage (31 out of 55) and converted 7 out of their 19 shots from beyond the perimeter. From the free throw line, the Panthers made 14 of 15 shots for a rate of 93.3%. In regard to rebounding, they earned 31 with 10 of them being offensive. They also doled out 12 assists in this matchup in addition to forcing the other team into 11 turnovers and earning 8 steals. Regarding the defense, Pittsburgh allowed the other team to go 35.3% from the field on 18 out of 51 shooting. Stanford doled out 15 assists and had 9 steals for the game. Moreover, Stanford collected 17 rebounds (6 offensive, 11 defensive), but didn't have a block. Stanford finished shooting 88.5% at the charity stripe by making 23 of 26 attempts. They made 9 out of their 28 tries from 3-point land. When talking about fouls, the Panthers ended up finishing with 16 and Stanford racked up 17 fouls.

Ishmael Leggett is one guy who was a major contributor in this game. He walked away from this one shooting 69.2% from the floor and also totaled 3 assists. He played 32 mins played and also totaled 6 rebounds. He recorded 21 points on 9 out of 13 shooting.

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Pittsburgh will play this contest with a win-loss mark of 12-2 so far this year. They currently have an average of 84.1 points per game (28th in the country) while connecting on 49.5% from the field. The Panthers are connecting on 35.9% on shots from 3-point land (123 of 343) and 77.7% from the free throw line. As a unit, Pittsburgh is pulling in 36.6 boards per game and is sitting with 207 dimes on the year, which has them ranked 188th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They cough up possession 10.2 times per contest and as a team they are committing 16.6 fouls on a nightly basis.

On defense, the Panthers have forced 12.3 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 18.8 personal fouls. They give up 30.0% on shots from beyond the perimeter and they rank 100th in D-1 in points per game from their opponents (68.4). The Panthers defense is allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 41.3% (340 of 824) and they relinquish 32.6 rebounds per game as a team. They currently rank 39th in college in giving up assists to their opponents with 154 surrendered for the campaign.

For their last game, the Duke Blue Devils walked away with a victory by a final of 89-62 when they faced SMU. The Blue Devils snagged 31 defensive rebounds and 9 offensive boards for a total of 40 in this matchup. They coughed it up 7 times, while earning 3 steals in the matchup. SMU earned 13 personal fouls in the game which took the Blue Devils to the charity stripe for a total of 16 attempts. They were able to knock down 12 of them for a rate of 75.0%. In relation to shots from beyond the perimeter, Duke buried 11 of 27 attempts (40.7%). At the conclusion of this game, the Blue Devils finished 33 for 62 from the field which gave them a rate of 53.2%. The Blue Devils permitted SMU to knock down 23 of 67 attempts from the floor which left them with a rate of 34.3% in this contest. They went 23.8% from distance by going 5 out of 21 and walked away from this one shooting 11 of 25 at the free throw line (44.0%). With respect to rebounding, Duke permitted SMU to get 33 in total (14 offensive).

Cooper Flagg ended up being a major contributor for the Blue Devils for this contest. He converted 7 of 12 for the game giving him a field goal percentage of 58.3%, and had 11 rebounds. He earned 24 points in his 32 minutes on the court and had 3 dimes for the game.

Duke has a mark of 12-2 so far this year. As an offense, the Blue Devils are hitting on 47.4% from the floor, which ranks 75th in the country. Duke has accounted for 1,124 pts on the year (80.3 per contest) and they average 39.8 rebounds per contest. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 16.8 times per contest (53rd in the nation) and they turn it over 10.1 times per game. The Blue Devils are committing 16.1 personal fouls every game and they go 75.1% from the free throw line.

The Duke defense surrenders 28.9% on shots from beyond the arc (91 of 315) and their opposition knocks down 73.7% of their shots from the free throw line. They have surrendered 11.7 dimes and 32.8 boards per contest, which ranks them 84th and 101st in the nation. The Blue Devils are ranked 7th in college hoops in points allowed per game with 59.2. They are forcing 12.9 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 36.1% from the floor (5th in the country).

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Pittsburgh

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