Expect Defense for Days Between Duke, Virginia Tech

Duke hasn’t had to face much elite competition so far this season – and their previous meetings with ranked teams didn’t go so well. The Blue Devils look for their first win of 2020-21 against a Top 25 program as they visit Virginia Tech on Tuesday. Duke (5-2 SU, 1-6 ATS) has been a bettor’s nightmare but is a slight favorite against the red-hot Hokies (9-2 SU, 7-4 ATS).

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

Virginia Tech opened as a 2-point favorite, but a flood of Duke money has moved the line all the way to -1.5 in the visitors’ favor. The total, on the other hand, has remained steady at 141.5.

Duke News & Notes

There are times when bettors need to ignore a team’s SU record and look at the ATS mark to get a true sense of how that team is playing. The news is bad for the Blue Devils, who have just one cover on the season despite having won three straight. And both of their losses (a 75-69 defeat to Michigan State at -3 and an 83-68 setback to Illinois at -4) came with Duke as a favorite.

Still, wins are wins – and you can’t count out a Blue Devils roster featuring plenty of talent at both ends of the floor. The key to Tuesday’s game will be what Duke gets out of star forward Matthew Hurt, who leads the team in scoring at 19.4 points per game. Hurt averaged 20 points in the Blue Devils’ two defeats but shot a collective 1-for-9 from three-point range in those games.

Virginia Tech News & Notes

Back-to-back mediocre defensive efforts were little cause for concern in Blacksburg, as the Hokies rebounded in style by holding Notre Dame to 37.5 percent shooting in a 77-63 win over the Fighting Irish.

Virginia Tech continues to boast a truly suffocating defense, entering Tuesday’s pivotal ACC encounter ranked just outside the top 50 in scoring defense (64.9 ppg).

Offensively, the Hokies will be looking to build upon a 35.3 percent success rate from deep that inhibits them from taking the next step in the conference. None of their top four scorers shoot better than 40 percent from three-point range, with forward Keve Aluma leading the team at 15.5 points per game despite connecting on just 32.1 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.

Betting Pick: UNDER 141.5 (-110)

Neither team has looked particularly dominant offensively, and the Hokies know that keeping the pace slow and limiting second chances will be pivotal to pulling out the win.