College Basketball ACC Showdown: Virginia At Clemson

The 19th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers will look to record consecutive victories while handing the struggling Clemson Tigers another loss when they two longtime rivals square off for their ACC showdown on Saturday. Now, let’s find out where the value in this online betting matchup lies.

Analyzing The College Basketball Betting Odds ACC Showdown: Cavaliers At Tigers

When:  Saturday, January 14, 2017 at 12:00 PM ET Where: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina TV: ACC Network    

Why Bet on Virginia Cavaliers

The best reason to bet on Virginia Cavaliers (12-3 SU, 8-5 ATS) is that they have the nation’s very best defense right now and are kind of desperate to record consecutive victories. The Cavaliers snapped a two-game losing streak by pounding Wake Forest en route to a commanding 79-62 win on Saturday as London Perrantes scored a game-high 24 points while draining four of five from beyond the arc. Virginia also got 17 points from guard Marial Shayok while limiting the Demon Deacons to just 40.4 percent shooting from the field and 28.6 percent from beyond the arc. Virginia is limiting its opponents to just 52.1 points per game to rank first while also ranking fourth in field goal defense (37.1 percent).

Why Bet on Clemson Tigers

Clemson (11-5 SU, 7-7 ATS) has lost three straight and comes into this matchup off a humbling 75-63 beatdown against Georgia Tech the last time out despite getting 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from senior forward Jaron Blossomgame. Unfortunately, the Tigers’ other four starters shot a combined 7-for-30 from the field. Clemson Tigers is raked an uninspiring 109th in scoring (76.8 ppg) and even more discouraging 159th in field goal shooting percentage (44.7 percent). Defensively, the Tigers allow 67.2 points per game to rank 80th nationally in points allowed.

Expert Pick & Final Score Prediction

Virginia has won five straight in this ACC series and will make it six in a row by shutting down the offensively-challenged Tigers with their stingy defense. The Cavaliers have plenty of motivation after dropping their previous two games and have gotten much better offensive production in scoring over 76 points in each of their last two games. Virginia has gone 5-2 ATS in their last seven games and a consistent 18-8-1 ATS in their last 27 games against a team with a winning record. While Clemson has gone 5-0 ATS in their last five home games against a team with a winning road record, the Tigers are also just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following an SU loss and an identical 1-4 ATS in their last five games against their ACC conference rivals. The favorite in this ACC rivalry has gone 5-1-1 ATS in the last seven meetings and the Cavaliers are 3-1-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings. I say…keep it simple and back the Virginia Cavaliers to win outright!

My final score prediction is Virginia 77 Clemson