Virginia Cavaliers vs Duke Blue Devils Prediction, 2/20/2021 College Basketball Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Virginia Cavaliers vs Duke Blue Devils

Date: Saturday, February 20, 2021

Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC

TV: ESPN

Odds/Point Spread: Virginia (+1)

Cameron Indoor Stadium is the venue where and the Duke Blue Devils (9-8) will take on the Virginia Cavaliers (15-4) on Saturday. Duke opens this contest as 1-point favorites. The total has been set at 132.5.

Virginia heads into this contest with a win-loss record of 15-4 for the year. The Cavaliers are connecting on 39.8% on shots from beyond the arc (170 of 427) and 78.8% from the free throw line. They currently have an average of 69.4 pts per game (239th in college hoops) while hitting 48.9% from the floor. They turn it over 9.5 times per contest and as a basketball team are committing 12.8 personal fouls per contest. As a unit, Virginia is pulling in 31.5 boards per contest and has racked up 271 dimes for the year, which ranks 116th in the nation in terms of passing the rock. When they are on defense, the Cavaliers are able to force 9.6 turnovers per contest and they draw 12.6 personal fouls. They are relinquishing 33.5% on 3-point shots and they are 6th in college basketball in PPG allowed (59.9). The Cavaliers are giving up a field goal percentage of 41.3% (418 of 1,011) and they surrender 29.2 boards per contest as a group. They rank 148th in college basketball in giving up assists with 222 surrendered on the campaign.

The Virginia Cavaliers faced the Florida State Seminoles and ended up losing by a score of 81-60 in their last contest. Virginia wrapped up the contest with a 46.8% field goal percentage (22 of 47) and converted 9 out of their 23 shots from distance. At the free throw line, the Cavaliers buried 7 of their 12 attempts for a percentage of 58.3%. Regarding rebounding, they collected a total of 23 with 4 of them being of the offensive variety. They also doled out 14 assists for this game while getting 3 steals and 4 rejections. With respect to defense, Virginia allowed 46.8% from the floor on 22 of 47 shooting. Florida State distributed 17 assists and had 9 steals in the matchup. In addition, the Seminoles snagged 30 rebounds (6 offensive, 24 defensive) and added 4 blocked shots. Florida State finished the game at 76.9% from the charity stripe by making 10 of their 13 attempts. They also converted 13 of 24 tries from long range.

Trey Murphy is one player who was a major factor in the matchup. He walked away with 13 points on 5 out of 10 shooting. He saw the court for 32 mins and pulled down 5 boards. Murphy shot 50.0% from the floor and also distributed 3 dimes. Someone else that was a contributor in the matchup for the Cavaliers was Kihei Clark. He grabbed 3 rebounds and also earned 4 assists. He ended up shooting 71.4% from the field in this contest by going 5-of-7 (12 points). When this game wrapped up, Clark was on the hardwood for 37 minutes.

Duke has a win-loss mark of 9-8 so far this season. Duke has accumulated 1,294 points on the season (76.1 per contest) and they grab 35.9 rebounds per game. The Blue Devils are committing 17.2 fouls every game and they go 70.5% from the free throw line. In terms of offensive execution, the Blue Devils are connecting on 46.8% from the floor, which ranks them 65th in D-1. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 14.9 times per game (80th in D-1) and they turn it over 12.9 times per contest. The Blue Devils on the defensive end are ranked 212th in D-1 in PPG given up with 71.5. They have conceded 12.9 dimes and 32.5 rebounds on a nightly basis, which is ranked 169th and 71st in D-1. The Duke defense allows 37.5% on 3-point attempts (118 of 315) and their opposition knocks down 70.2% of their shots from the free throw line. They are able to force 13.6 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 46.4% from the floor (294th in college basketball).

The last time they took the court, the Duke Blue Devils walked away with a victory by a final of 84-60 when they faced the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The Blue Devils snagged 25 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds totaling 35 in the game. They also stuffed 4 shots while recording 5 steals for this game. The Demon Deacons earned 15 personal fouls for the matchup which got the Blue Devils to the charity stripe for 13 attempts. They were able to convert 7 of them for a rate of 53.8%. Concerning shots from 3-point land, Duke converted 11 out of their 25 attempts (44.0%). When the final whistle blew, the Blue Devils finished the game shooting 33 out of 61 from the field which had them at 54.1%. The Blue Devils allowed the Demon Deacons to make 20 of 51 tries from the floor which gave them a percentage of 39.2% in this matchup. They finished 28.0% from 3-point land by hitting 7 of 25 and ended up shooting 13 of 18 at the free throw line (72.2%). Concerning attacking the glass, Duke allowed Wake Forest to get 27 overall (7 offensive).

Matthew Hurt ended up being a factor for the Blue Devils for this contest. He converted 8 of 9 for this contest giving him a rate of 88.9%, which had him sitting at 22 points. Hurt snagged 4 rebounds in his 31 mins played and had 2 assists in the matchup. One more player that was pivotal for Duke was DJ Steward. He ended up with 16 points in 30 minutes on the hardwood via 7 out of 12 from the floor for this contest. Steward walked away from this one going 58.3% from the floor in addition to totaling 3 assists and 7 total rebounds.

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

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Virginia (+1)

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