Halftime Report

Duke is on the road but looking no worse for wear. They have jumped out to a quick 34-29 lead against Vermont.

If Duke keeps playing like this, they'll bump their record up to 25-8 in no time. On the other hand, Vermont will have to make due with a 28-7 record unless they turn things around (and fast).

Who's Playing

Vermont Catamounts @ Duke Blue Devils

Current Records: Vermont 25-6, Duke 24-7

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What to Know

The Duke Blue Devils and the Vermont Catamounts are set to clash at 7:10 p.m. ET on Friday at Barclays Center in an ACC postseason contest. Duke is expected to lose this one by 12.5 points, so we'll see if that gives them a bit of motivation.

Duke had to hit the road for their first game and unfortunately the road hit them back. They took a 74-69 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Wolfpack last Thursday. That's two games in a row now that Duke has lost by exactly five points.

The losing side was boosted by Kyle Filipowski, who dropped a double-double on 28 points and 14 rebounds. Another player making a difference was Mark Mitchell, who scored 18 points along with eight rebounds.

Meanwhile, Vermont had already won nine in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9.6 points), and they went ahead and made it ten on Saturday. They walked away with a 66-61 victory over the River Hawks. 66 seems to be a good number for Vermont as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of points in their previous game.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Vermont to victory, but perhaps none more so than Shamir Bogues, who almost dropped a double-double on 15 points and nine rebounds. Bogues is on a roll when it comes to steals, as he's now grabbed four or more in the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Ileri Ayo-Faleye, who scored nine points along with five rebounds and three blocks.

The Blue Devils' defeat dropped their record down to 24-8. As for the Catamounts, they are on a roll lately: they've won 19 of their last 20 contests, which provided a nice bump to their 28-6 record this season.

Odds

Duke is a big 12.5-point favorite against Vermont, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Blue Devils as a 11.5-point favorite.


The over/under is 132.5 points.

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