Louisville Cardinals vs Duke Blue Devils Prediction, 2/27/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Louisville Cardinals vs Duke Blue Devils

Date: Saturday, February 27, 2021

Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC

TV: SECN

Odds/Point Spread: Louisville (+4.5)

The Duke Blue Devils (11-8) play the Louisville Cardinals (12-5) at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday. The spread on this matchup has Duke as 4.5-point favorites. The over/under opens at 141.5.

Louisville comes into this one with a record of 12-5 on the year. The Cardinals are hitting 30.6% on shots from 3-point land (91 of 297) and 72.4% from the charity stripe. They average 68.5 pts per contest (254th in D-1) while shooting 44.1% from the floor. They lose possession by turning the ball over 12.1 times per contest and as a unit they commit 17.1 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Louisville is pulling down 38.5 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 194 dimes for the season, which has them ranked 299th in the nation in terms of passing the ball. When they are on the defensive end, the Cardinals have forced 11.4 turnovers per contest and they draw 17.5 personal fouls. The Cardinals defense is allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 41.4% (403 of 973) and they relinquish 32.9 boards per game as a team. They are currently ranked 68th in college basketball in allowing assists to their opponents with 202 surrendered on the season. They are surrendering 31.1% on shots from downtown while they are 65th in D-1 in PPG from their opponents (65.8).

The Louisville Cardinals took the court against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and took home the win by a score of 69-57 in their last game. Louisville wrapped up the contest with a 42.2% FG percentage (27 of 64) and knocked down 7 of 21 3-pointers. When they shot from the charity stripe, the Cardinals converted 8 of 11 tries for a percentage of 72.7%. When discussing hauling in rebounds, they earned 45 with 14 of them being of the offensive variety. They also recorded 13 assists in this matchup as well as forcing the other team into 8 turnovers and earning 2 steals. Regarding defense, Louisville let their opponent shoot 36.8% from the field on 21 out of 57 shooting. Notre Dame recorded 9 assists and had 7 steals for this contest. Furthurmore, Notre Dame totaled 30 rebounds (5 offensive, 25 defensive) and had 1 block. Notre Dame finished the game shooting 72.7% from the charity stripe by converting 8 of their 11 attempts. They knocked down 7 out of their 28 shots from beyond the arc.

Carlik Jones is someone who was a major factor in the matchup. He totaled 18 points on 7 of 14 shooting. He was on the court for 40 mins and pulled down 4 rebounds. Jones went 50.0% from the field and totaled 4 assists. An additional guy that was a major contributor in the game for the Cardinals was Samuell Williamson. He snagged 8 rebounds in his 27 min played on the night. He ended up going 60.0% from the floor for this game by connecting on 6-of-10 (12 points). When the time ran out, Williamson had 1 assist.

Duke has a record of 11-8 for the season. The Blue Devils are responsible for committing 16.7 fouls per game while shooting 69.6% from the charity stripe. They are dishing out assists 15.6 times per game (57th in the nation) and they are losing possession via turnover 12.8 times per contest. Duke has scored 1,445 pts on the campaign (76.1 per contest) and they grab 35.4 boards per game. When it comes to offensive execution, the Blue Devils are connecting on 47.3% from the field, which ranks them 51st in the country. The Blue Devils defensively are ranked 209th in D-1 in points allowed per contest with 71.2. They are forcing 13.5 TO's per game and allow teams to shoot 46.2% from the field (290th in college hoops). The Duke defense concedes 37.4% on shots from beyond the arc (131 of 350) and their opponents are making 70.0% of their free throw shots. They relinquish 12.7 assists and 32.7 boards per game, which is ranked 156th and 78th in those categories.

The last time they took the court, the Duke Blue Devils walked away with a victory by a final of 85-71 when they faced the Syracuse Orange. The Blue Devils pulled down 24 defensive boards and 12 offensive boards totaling 36 for this game. They also coughed up the ball 13 times, while earning 5 steals for the game. The Orange earned 10 personal fouls in this contest which got the Blue Devils to the charity stripe for a total of 7 tries. They were able to convert 4 of the free throws for a rate of 57.1%. Concerning shooting from distance, Duke buried 13 out of their 29 attempts (44.8%). When the final whistle blew, the Blue Devils went 34 for 64 from the floor which gave them a percentage of 53.1%. The Blue Devils permitted the Orange to convert 28 out of 69 attempts from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 40.6% in this contest. They finished 33.3% from beyond the perimeter by shooting 8 out of 24 and ended up shooting 7 of 12 at the free throw line (58.3%). Regarding attacking the glass, Duke permitted Syracuse to collect 33 overall (15 offensive).

DJ Steward was important for the Blue Devils for the game. He made 8 out of 17 in this matchup for a rate of 47.1%, and tallied 2 rebounds. Steward tallied 21 points in his 33 mins on the court and accumulated 7 assists for this game. An additional guy that was important for Duke was Mark Williams. He came away with no assists in 25 mins played, and he converted 9 out of 11 from the floor. Williams wrapped this one up going 81.8% from the floor while also collecting 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Who will win tonight's college basketball game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Louisville (+4.5)

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