Teams looking to build on recent wins meet when the Clemson Tigers battle the Duke Blue Devils in a key Atlantic Coast Conference matchup on Saturday. The Tigers (10-4), who snapped a three-game losing streak with a 54-50 win over No. 25 Louisville on Wednesday, are eighth in the ACC at 4-4. The Blue Devils (6-5), who also ended a three-game skid by knocking off Georgia Tech 75-68 on Tuesday, are tied for sixth with Pittsburgh at 4-3 in the conference. The Tigers won the last meeting with Duke, posting a 79-72 victory last season at Clemson.
Tip-off from Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C., is slated for noon ET. Duke leads the all-time series 111-32, including a 60-4 advantage in games played at Cameron Indoor. The Blue Devils are 6.5-point favorites in the latest Duke vs. Clemson odds from William Hill Sportsbook, while the over-under for total points scored is set at 134.5. Before making any Clemson vs. Duke picks, check out the college basketball predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.
The model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. Over the past four-plus years, the proprietary computer model has generated an impressive profit of over $2,300 for $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks against the spread. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Duke vs. Clemson. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Here are several college basketball odds and trends for Clemson vs. Duke:
- Duke vs. Clemson spread: Duke -6.5
- Duke vs. Clemson over-under: 134.5 points
- Duke vs. Clemson: Duke -300; Clemson +240
- CLEM: Sophomore guard Al-Amir Dawes is coming off a 25-point performance against Louisville, marking the eighth time this season he has reached double figures
- DU: Senior guard Jordan Goldwire, who is coming off a career-high tying seven assists against Georgia Tech, leads the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio at plus-2.8
Why Duke can cover
The Blue Devils have six players averaging 7.3 points per game or better, led by sophomore forward Matthew Hurt. He has reached double figures in all 11 games and has posted three double-doubles. Hurt leads the ACC in conference-only scoring at 19.3 points per game and is averaging 19.2 points in all games. He is also averaging 8.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.6 blocks per game. He is connecting on 53.6 percent of his field goals, including 45.8 percent from 3-point range.
Freshman guard DJ Steward, who has already been named ACC Freshman of the Week twice, also leads the Duke offense. He is the team's second-leading scorer at 13.6 points, while averaging 4.6 rebounds and shooting 42.3 percent from the field and leading Duke in free throw percentage at 86.7 percent. Steward is coming off a 19-point, five-rebound and three-assist effort against Georgia Tech. He has reached double figures in eight games.
Why Clemson can cover
Senior forward Aamir Simms is on pace to become just the fourth player in Clemson history to record 1,000 points, 550 rebounds, 150 assists, 75 steals and 75 blocks in a career. He is just 32 points and one steal away. He has posted one double-double and seven double-figure games this season. He had 12 points and 10 rebounds against Morehead State on Dec. 21, his sixth career double-double with the first five coming last season. Simms tied a career high with 25 points in a win over Miami on Jan. 2.
Also powering the Tigers is junior guard Nick Honor, who is averaging 9.2 points, 2.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.1 rebounds per game. Honor is one of 14 players in the nation to shoot better than 42 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and record 20 or more steals. He has reached double figures six times this season, including a season-high 21 points against North Carolina State on Jan. 5. He played his freshman season at Fordham before sitting out a year due to the NCAA transfer rule.
How to make Duke vs. Clemson picks
The model is leaning over on the total, projecting both teams combine for 140 points. It has also generated an against-the-spread pick that is hitting in well over 50 percent of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Clemson vs. Duke? And which side of the spread hits in well over 50 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side of the spread you need to jump on, all from the computer model that has crushed its college basketball picks.
