Arizona vs Duke Odds, Picks and Predictions: Back the Blue Devils at Home

Two college basketball powerhouses will give themselves an early test on Friday night when the Duke Blue Devils host the Arizona Wildcats at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke (1-0) is coming off a 92-54 victory over the Dartmouth Big Green, and the early college basketball odds have the Blue Devils as one of the favorites to win a national championship this year. Arizona (1-0) blew out the Morgan State Bears 122-59 on Monday and is the early favorite to win the Pac-12 title.

The Cameron Crazies will give the Blue Devils a lift at home, but this is still a tough matchup against a Wildcats team that has been a consistent top seed in the NCAA Tournament in recent years. We’ll break down the matchup in our free college basketball picks and predictions for Arizona vs. Duke on November 10.

Arizona vs Duke best odds

Arizona vs Duke picks and predictions

Any concern that Duke wouldn’t be as competitive without longtime head coach Mike Krzyzewski were largely put to bed last year when Jon Scheyer guided the Blue Devils to a 27-9 record.

Yes, Duke lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and was merely a No. 5 seed in March Madness, but the team still looked like the same old Blue Devils. Duke then solidified that fact by showing off its recruiting muscle and comes into this year ranked No. 2 in the country.

Duke has scheduled a few tough non-conference opponents early in the season, and that begins tonight in the matchup with Arizona. The Wildcats come in ranked No. 12 and are looking to improve on last year’s disappointing NCAA Tournament performance when they were upset by the Princeton Tigers in the first round.

Arizona bolstered its roster this year by picking up former Tar Heels guard Caleb Love. The senior spent three years at UNC, averaging 16.7 points per game last year.

Love joins an Arizona team anchored by center Oumar Ballo. The 7-foot senior averaged 14.2 points per game and 8.6 rebounds and is an early pick to win Pac-12 Player of the Year.

But that’s not to say that all is right in Arizona. The Wildcats lost leading scorer Azuolas Tubelis, who declared for the NBA Draft and is now playing in Lithuania. Love’s transfer is also meant to make up for the departure of guards Courtney Ramey and Kerr Kriisa, both of whom were starters last year.

While the Wildcats are coming together as a team, Duke knows exactly what they have. The Blue Devils are bringing back their four top scorers from last season, including Kyle Filipowski, Jeremy Roach, Tyrese Proctor, and Mark Mitchell. If that experience wasn’t enough, Duke also recruited one of the top freshmen classes in the country, led by Jared McCain and Sean Stewart.

There’s a reason why Duke is a preseason favorite to win its sixth national title this year. Few teams have the depth of talent and the level of experience that the Blue Devils bring to the table. As good as Arizona is, it’s hard to imagine the Wildcats walking into Cameron and stealing a game on the road against a team that is frankly better on paper and has the tools to match them at every position.

While Duke is favored, the spread is surprisingly light considering they are playing at home against a team that is traveling across the country to play them. I’m laying the points with the Blue Devils tonight.

My best bet: Duke -5.5 (-105 at BetMGM)

Arizona vs Duke same-game parlay

Duke -5.5

Under 154.5

Oumar Ballo under 16.5 points

+374 at FanDuel

My same-game parlay for tonight’s game starts with taking Duke to cover the spread. From there, I’m expecting the battle of elite big men to keep the game somewhat under control — and definitely Under the total.

Between Filipowski and Ballo, there’s a lot of height and athleticism around the rim on both sides of this matchup. When you throw in the fact that we’re early in the season and these offenses are getting their first tests against legitimate opponents, I think the Under is a smart play here.

It also plays well with my third leg, which is to take the Under on Ballo’s scoring prop of 16.5 points. Ballo only averaged 14.2 points per game last year, and Filipowski (and the rest of the Blue Devils) will be one of his toughest matchups on the year, especially on the road. Ballo will compete, but that number is just too high not to take the Under as part of this SGP.

Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.

Arizona vs Duke spread and Over/Under analysis

Duke opened this game as a four-point favorite. The public has since thrown money on the Blue Devils, and Duke -5.5 is now the consensus spread across most sites.

Both Arizona and Duke are 1-0 against the spread this year, having covered as huge favorites against overmatched opponents in their respective openers. Last year, Duke was 12-19 ATS while Arizona went 14-16-1 ATS on the season.

Take away the team names, and you have a more talented, more experienced team playing at home against a quality opponent who is trying to integrate several new parts early in the season. The home team deserves to be a significant favorite in any case like this, and that’s true for Duke tonight. 

The total for this game opened at 153 points flat. That number has come up a bit, with the consensus Over/Under now sitting at 154.5. Most books are offering -110 on both sides of the market at that number.

Both teams flexed their offensive muscle in their season openers, with Arizona putting up 122 points against Morgan State and Duke dropping 92 against Dartmouth. As a result, both teams hit the Over in their first games.

If these teams play anything like they did last year, this will be a clash of styles. Arizona was one of the fastest teams in the country, while Duke played at a much more deliberate tempo. I expect Duke to have better luck controlling the pace on Friday night, and the big bodies in the interior should stop these teams from getting many easy buckets.

I’m ultimately leaning towards the Under.

Arizona vs Duke betting trend to know

Duke is 6-1 ATS in its last seven games overall. Find more college basketball betting trends for Arizona vs. Duke.

Arizona vs Duke game info

Arizona vs Duke key injuries

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