Pittsburgh at Duke Men's Hoops - Preview, Pick and Props for Wednesday
The Pitt Panthers visit the Duke Blue Devils on Wednesday night and Duke is giving up 8.5 points as of this morning.
The Blue Devils are led by center Kyle Filipowski’s 13.9 points and 8.6 rebounds but the big man is only blocking 0.8 shots per game. Duke’s interior defense has been a problem as only reserve center Dereck Lively II is averaging more blocks this season than Filipowski (1.9). Guard Jeremy Roach runs the offense to the tune of 11.9 points and 3.2 assists, while forward Mark Mitchell is averaging just under 10 points per game for Duke. Duke is 2-2 over its last four games with wins over Boston College and Florida State, and with ugly losses to Wake Forest and a 84-60 trouncing by NC State. Senior center Ryan Young has been playing well for Duke and he’s averaging 12 points, eight rebounds and 3.0 assists over his last four games. Young had 20 points and 12 boards in an easy win over Florida State last Saturday, hitting 7-of-7 shots. Freshman forward Dariq Whitehead is also coming on strong for Duke, scoring between 12 and 18 points in each of his last four games and he had 18 points and four 3-pointers to lead Duke to a one-point win at Boston College on Saturday.
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Pitt is led by forward Blake Hinson and his 16.8 points and 6.9 rebounds, while guard Jamarius Burton is right behind him at 16.6 points and 4.0 assists per game. Pitt rattled off five straight wins before falling to Clemson 75-74 on Saturday. Burton is hot and has scored 28, 15 and 31 points in each of his last three games, and Hinson has scored in double figures in all but one game this year. Two of their wins during the five-game streak came against Virginia and North Carolina, who were both ranked in the Top 25, but both of those wins came at Pittsburgh.
A visit to Cameron will be a tough test to see how good the Panthers truly are, while Duke will use the home-court advantage to try to prove that they belong in the Top 25. The Oddscrowd algorithm gives a 2.2 percent + EV Edge to the Duke Moneyline (-360), as well as a 2.3 + EV Edge to Duke -8.5 (-105). We also like Duke to get the job done at home backed by the Cameron Crazies tonight.
Pick: Duke -8.5
Prop 1: Blake Hinson over 14.5 points -125 at FanDuel
Prop 2: Jamarious Burton over 15.5 points -115 at FanDuel
Prop 3: Dariq Whitehead over 12.5 points -122 at FanDuel
