The Notre Dame Fighting Irish look to pull out of their four-game losing slide as they welcome the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils to the Joyce Center. Unlike Notre Dame, Duke finds itself on a three-game winning streak and has won each of the last four meetings with the Fighting Irish. The Blue Devils look to extend their streak and are a 14.5-point favorite to do so with the total Sportsbook at 152 points.
- Notre Dame is 2-5 SU and 1-6 ATS in its last seven games.
- The total has gone UNDER in nine of Duke’s last 13 games.
- Duke averages the third-most points per game in the nation this season (87.4).
Duke vs Notre Dame Game Center
Blue Devils look to break out of A scoring slump
Duke got a big boost in its backcourt this past weekend as 2018 McDonald’s All American Tre Jones returned from a shoulder injury in its 66-53 triumph over visiting Georgia Tech. That victory was the Blue Devils’ third in a row following their shocking 95-91 upset defeat against Syracuse, the game in which Jones was injured.
Despite the current winning streak, the high-octane offense has slowed recently, averaging just 72.3 points per game and failing to eclipse the 80-point mark in any of those three games. To put that into perspective, the Blue Devils only had two games through their first 16 in which they scored fewer than 80 points.
That being said, Duke has still picked up three straight wins with an average winning margin of 10 and including a narrow 72-70 victory over then-No. 4 Virginia. The offense may break out tonight as Duke leads the nation with 49.3 points per game from two-point range, while Notre Dame ranks 203rd for points allowed from two-point range.
Fighting Irish Need to Take Better Shots
Confidence was high for Notre Dame heading into conference play sporting a record of 10-3, but its ACC rivals haven’t been kind. The Fighting Irish have gone 1-6 within their conference and have had a rough schedule with four of those seven games coming against ranked opponents and another one coming tonight. Most recently, they have dropped four straight games, three of them against ranked opponents, including an 82-55 defeat on Saturday vs then-No. 3 Virginia.
One of the biggest issues for the Irish is their dependence on the three ball. They’re averaging 27.1 attempts per game from beyond the arc, the 23rd-highest number in the country. Talking a lot of triple attempts isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but they hit just 32.8 percent of those shots for the 117th-lowest percentage in college basketball and Duke restricts its foes to a 28.9 shooting percentage from downtown.
Overall, Notre Dame ranks 306th in shooting percentage at 40.7 percent, a figure that has dropped to 36.2 percent over its last three games to rate 13th-worst in the NCAA over that span. An area in which the Irish do well is maintaining ball possession, averaging just 9.6 turnovers per game to tie for the fourth-fewest in the nation, but that will be tested tonight as Duke is No. 13 in creating turnovers.
Should you be on the UNDER?
Notre Dame and Duke have been in scoring ruts recently and Sportsbook has the total Sportsbook at 152 points. The total has gone UNDER in nine of Duke’s last 13 games with eight of those games either pushing or going UNDER 152 points. Meanwhile, Notre Dame has gone UNDER in five of its last eight games with no game going OVER the total set for tonight’s game.
The Fighting Irish rely too heavily on the three ball, an area of strength for the Blue Devils defensively, and I have a hard time seeing Notre Dame have much success tonight offensively. Additionally, Duke has been putting more of an emphasis on its defense and as a result, its offense has suffered, scoring fewer than 80 points in each of its last three games. I think 152 points is too much and you should be on the UNDER.
My take on Duke vs Notre Dame
I like Duke to cover the 14.5-point spread. The Blue Devils score the most points per game from two-point range in the nation and the Fighting Irish rank 203rd in defending that range. Meanwhile, Notre Dame gets the bulk of its points from long distance, while Duke is restricting opponents to a measly 28.9 shooting percentage from beyond the arc.
Lastly, the Blue Devils are 12-1 SU and 9-4 ATS in their 13 games against unranked opponents this year, with an average winning margin of 29.5 and only one game being won by fewer than 15 points.
