Duke Blue Devils vs California Golden Bears Prediction, 1/14/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Duke Blue Devils vs California Golden Bears

Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Location: Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, CA

TV: ACC Network

Haas Pavilion is where the California Golden Bears (13-4) will play the Duke Blue Devils (15-1) on Wednesday.

The Duke Blue Devils stepped onto the hardwood against SMU and walked away with a win by a score of 82-75 in their last game. Duke ended having earned a 49.0% FG percentage (25 out of 51) and buried 11 of their 26 3-pointers. At the charity stripe, the Blue Devils converted 21 of their 27 tries for a rate of 77.8%. Regarding grabbing rebounds, they earned 21 with 6 of them being on the offensive end. They also doled out 18 assists for this game as well as forcing 19 turnovers and earning 12 steals. Regarding defense, Duke allowed the other team to go 56.6% from the floor on 30 out of 53 shooting. SMU distributed 10 dimes and had 8 steals in the matchup. On top of that, SMU pulled down 28 rebounds (7 offensive, 21 defensive), but didn't have a block. SMU finished shooting 88.9% from the charity stripe by converting 8 of 9 attempts. They converted 7 of 14 shots from long range. In reference to personal fouls, the Blue Devils walked away with 13 and SMU recorded 21 personal fouls.

Isaiah Evans is one guy who was a major contributor for the matchup. He walked away from this one shooting 45.5% from the field and also earned 1 assist. He saw the court for 30 minutes played and also totaled 2 rebounds. He notched 21 points on 5 out of 11 shooting.

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Duke will take the court with a record of 15-1 this year. They cough up possession 11.7 times per contest and as a squad they are committing 16.6 fouls every game. As a unit, Duke is collecting 40.1 rebounds per contest and has tallied 284 dimes this year, which is 51st in college in terms of passing the ball. The Blue Devils are hitting 35.5% on 3-pointers (157 of 442) and 71.8% from the charity stripe. They average 86.8 points per outing (32nd in college) while connecting on 49.8% from the field.

Defensively, the Blue Devils are forcing 14.0 turnovers per game and they draw 20.3 personal fouls. They are ranked 80th in D-1 in giving up assists to the opposition with 200 conceded on the year. The Blue Devils defense is allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 39.6% (384 of 970) and they surrender 31.2 boards per contest as a squad. They are giving up 31.1% from beyond the arc while they are 35th in D-1 in opponents PPG (66.6).

When they last stepped on the court, the California Golden Bears took a defeat with a final score of 78-75 when they faced Virginia Tech. In relation to rebounding, California permitted Virginia Tech to get 27 overall (10 offensive). They went 21.7% from three-point range by shooting 5 out of 23 and ended up going 27 of 31 at the free throw line (87.1%). The Golden Bears allowed Virginia Tech to knock down 23 of their 53 attempts from the floor which left them shooting 43.4% for this game. When the final whistle blew, the Golden Bears went 25 for 56 from the field which gave them a shooting percentage of 44.6%. With respect to shooting from 3-point land, California made 6 out of 20 tries (30.0%). They were able to make 19 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 90.5%. Virginia Tech committed 18 personal fouls for the matchup which took the Golden Bears to the free throw line for 21 attempts. They also coughed up the ball 12 times, while recording 6 steals in the game. The Golden Bears corralled 17 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive boards totaling 28 for the matchup.

Dai Dai Ames was important for the Golden Bears in this matchup. He buried 8 out of 12 for the contest for a rate of 66.7%, but wasn't able to grab a rebound. He earned 21 points in his 29 mins of playing time and accounted for 2 dimes for this game.

California has a record of 13-4 so far this season. The Golden Bears commit 17.9 fouls per contest and they go 79.4% from the free throw line. They are earning an assist 14.7 times per contest (158th in the nation) and they turn the ball over 9.6 times per contest. California has totaled 1,357 points for the campaign (79.8 per game) and they collect 34.7 boards per contest. As an offensive team, the Golden Bears are connecting on 45.4% from the floor, which ranks them 177th in the nation.

The California defense surrenders 31.3% on shots from 3-point land (128 of 409) and their opposition makes 68.7% of their shots from the free throw line. They have conceded 14.1 assists and 35.8 rebounds per contest, which ranks them 244th and 252nd in college. The Golden Bears on the defensive side of the court are 96th in the nation in PPG allowed with 70.0. They are able to force 12.4 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 41.7% from the field (89th in college hoops).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Duke

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