Arkansas Razorbacks vs Duke Blue Devils Betting Preview/Prop Pick

The first two tickets to the Final Four will be punched on Saturday, including one in the West Region. It will be the Arkansas Razorbacks taking on the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday night for a shot at reaching the Final Four.

Arkansas is the number four seed in the West Region after being one of the hottest teams in the country to finish the regular season. The Razorbacks stunned top-seeded Gonzaga in the Sweet 16, but their work won’t get any easier in this game.

Duke is the number two seed in the West, and they won the regular-season championship in the ACC this season. The Blue Devils were able to pull off a slight upset over Texas Tech in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night. 

The Duke Blue Devils are four-point betting favorites over the Arkansas Razorbacks in the West Regional Final. 

Arkansas Wants to Defend

Arkansas plays extremely fast when they have the basketball, but they have also been a tremendous defensive team this season. The Razorbacks clog up the paint and make life difficult for opponents to score insides.

In the win over Gonzaga, Arkansas was able to force the Bulldogs into a number of turnovers, and they also dominated the glass. The Razorbacks are averaging nearly eight steals per game, and they will look to pressure the guards of Duke.

On offense, the Razorbacks attempted the most free throws of any team in the country this season, and they will attack the paint. JD Notae leads the way with nearly 19 points per game, and he will take plenty of shots in this game. 

Duke Finding Some Offense

The path to the Elite Eight was not easy for Duke as they had to face both Michigan State and Texas Tech along the way. Both the Spartans and Red Raiders are tremendous defensive teams, but Duke scored at least 78 points in each of those two games. 

Freshman phenom Paolo Banchero is scoring more than 17 points per game to lead Duke, and he will be attacking the basket in this game. Duke doesn’t always shoot the ball well from deep, but that will be a big key in this matchup.

Duke will have to play better on the defensive end in the Elite Eight as they have been giving up too many points. The Blue Devils will have a size advantage, and they will have to use that to their advantage. 

Down Goes Duke

It’s starting to look like Duke is destined to win the national championship, but the Arkansas Razorbacks are standing in the way. The Blue Devils are clearly the better overall team in this game, but Arkansas doesn’t care about that.

Arkansas is going to have to shoot it really well to win this game, but it’s going to be their defense that takes control. Duke does most of their damage inside, but that’s just not an option against a strong Razorbacks defense. 

This will be the final game in the career of Coach K as Arkansas does it again. Take the Arkansas Razorbacks moneyline as they pull off another upset win and advance to the Final Four.

Prop Pick

Arkansas (-110) OVER 72.5 Points

Arkansas is averaging 77.3 points per game on offense, which ranks No. 40 in the nation. Scores have gone OVER in seven of the Razorbacks last nine games overall.

With Dunkel predicting an Arkansas victory by the score of 78-75, take the Razorbacks (-110) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 72.5 points against the Blue Devils.

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