The ACC did no favors to FSU basketball (7-7, 0-1 ACC), which opened conference play on the road against the North Carolina Tarheels as big betting underdogs earlier this week. The Noles kept the game competitive, trailing by six at halftime and only by one point with about 14 minutes remaining before losing by 13 points to cover the spread on a three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Noles will have another tough ACC contest on Saturday, hosting the No. 6 Duke Blue Devils (12-1, 1-0 ACC). FSU will again be around a +16.5 betting underdog, and the over/under points total will be around 162.5.
The oddsmakers expect a slightly higher-scoring game than against North Carolina, but imply an 89-73 Duke win.
There are several reasons why Duke is among the best teams nationally. They shoot it well overall, don’t turn it over much, shoot well from the charity stripe and the three-point line. They rebound well and average 8.1 steals per contest.
They are led by a freshman player with a familiar last name. Cameron Boozer, the son of former Duke player Carlos Boozer, is averaging 23.5 ppg and 10.2 rebounds. It’ll be similar to the North Carolina game when freshman sensation Caleb Williams finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds.
FSU will have to play similarly to how they did against North Carolina to keep it close. They will have to limit the turnovers, attack the rim, and make way more than 31 percent of the three pointers they take. The latter is about where they’ve been all season. Duke was upset by Texas Tech last week and pulled out a close win over Georgia Tech to open ACC play earlier this week. The game will start at 3:45 p.m. and will air on CBS.