Duke Blue Devils at Notre Dame Fighting Irish Betting Preview/Prop Pick

The Atlantic Coast Conference title race is starting to heat up, and there is a game on Monday night that will have a huge impact on the standings. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish host the Duke Blue Devils in a battle of two of the best teams.

Duke has won three straight games, and they are the betting favorites to win the conference. The Blue Devils have improved their record to 17-3 on the season, and they are a team that can make a deep run in March.

Notre Dame has also been red hot of late as the Fighting Irish have won four straight games. A win on Monday night would throw Notre Dame right into the mix for the regular-season conference title. 

The Duke Blue Devils are 5.5-point betting favorites over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. 

Freshman Phenom Leading Duke

The Duke Blue Devils are always a team that is loaded with talent, and the best player on the roster this season is a freshman. Paolo Banchero leads the way with 17.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, and he will be hard for Notre Dame to deal with.

Duke has the ability to be explosive on the offensive end of the floor as they are averaging over 81 points per game. The Blue Devils have plenty of shooters around Banchero, and Notre Dame won’t be able to throw extra defenders his way.

The Blue Devils are also averaging over seven steals per game, and they are holding opponents to just 66 points per game. This is a team that doesn’t have many weaknesses. 

Notre Dame Must Make Shots

If the Fighting Irish are going to pull off this upset at home then they are going to have to make some shots. Notre Dame is shooting 46 percent from the field this season, and they have to shoot it well from deep to win this one.

Notre Dame is also going to have to lock in on the defensive end of the floor, and they are holding opponents to just 66.5 points per game. Forward Nate Laszewski leads the team with 7.5 rebounds per game, and he will also have to anchor that defense. 

The Fighting Irish can win this game by slowing things down, but it’s going to take a terrific performance. 

Duke Defeats Fighting Irish

Notre Dame might be coming in with four straight wins, but they haven’t faced the best competition during that streak. The Fighting Irish still need to prove they can compete with the league’s best, and this will be a tough matchup.

Duke simply has so much size in the paint, and their athleticism is going to be a real problem from Notre Dame. This is a game that might be close for a while, but it’s hard to see the FIghting Irish putting up a fight for the full 40 minutes. 

It feels as if Duke is really starting to assert its dominance over the rest of the league, and this will be another example on Monday night. Bet on the Duke Blue Devils at -5.5 and the UNDER as they pick up a double-digit win over Notre Dame on Monday night.

Prop Pick

Notre Dame (-110) UNDER 68.5 Points

Duke is allowing 65.8 points per game on defense, which ranks No. 67 in the nation. Scores have gone UNDER in four of the Blue Devils’ last five games as a road favorite. Additionally, scores have gone UNDER in 12 of Notre Dame’s last 16 games as a home underdog.

With Dunkel predicting a Duke win by the score of 75-65, take the Fighting Irish (-110) to finish UNDER their Vegas team total of 68.5 points against the Blue Devils.
 

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