Florida State at Duke Lines, Expert Pick & TV Info

Florida State at Duke Lines, Expert Pick & TV Info

Written by on February 27, 2017

No. 10 Duke no longer can win the ACC regular-season title but finishing in the top four would allow the Blue Devils to get a double-bye in the conference tournament. No. 19 FSU still has an outside shot of sharing the ACC title but would need to win out and have North Carolina lose twice. Duke will be a home favorite vs. the Noles in the NCAAB lines.

Florida State at Duke Lines, Expert Pick & TV Info

When: Tuesday, February 28, 2017, 7pm ET Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina TV: ESPN Radio: FSU / Duke Stream Option: WatchESPN Opening NCAAB Lines: Duke favored by TBA

Why Bet On Florida State?

FSU (23-6, 11-5) is tied for second in the ACC with Louisville and Notre Dame. The Noles are off a win over Clemson on Saturday, 76-74 to complete the season sweep. Xavier Rathan-Mayes scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, including the go-ahead basket with 1:22 left. Jonathan Isaac of Florida State blocked Shelton Mitchell’s drive with 11 seconds left and, after Trent Forrest made a free throw for the Seminoles, Marcquise Reed came up short on a mid-range jumper with 5 seconds to go as the Seminoles held on to win their 23rd game in the regular season for the first time since 2008-09. Clemson went the final two minutes, six seconds with a single point, and the Tigers finished the game on a 2-for- 10 cold streak from the floor. “That felt great,” Isaac said. … “That’s been our Achilles heel, so with everybody saying, ‘They can’t win on the road, it just felt extra great because we proved them wrong.” Despite holding the lead for much of the game, the Seminoles were never up by more than seven points. FSU held a 38-37 advantage at halftime and survived 11 lead changes over the final 20 minutes. Prior to defeating the Tigers, Florida State had won just one ACC road game since upsetting Virginia on a last-second shot from Dwayne Bacon on Dec. 31st. Four of the Seminoles’ five disappointing road losses were against unranked opponents. Likewise, all of them were double-digit defeats suffered at the hands of teams ranked lower than FSU at the time.

Why Bet On Duke?

Duke lost 55-50 at Miami on Saturday. Blue Devils big man Amile Jefferson scored a season-low four points for the third time this season, missing both of his only free-throw attempts on the day. The graduate student forward is four points away from 1,000. Sophomore Luke Kennard reached the mark Saturday. Jefferson is dealing with an injury. So is Grayson Allen, who didn’t play. Senior Matt Jones and freshman Frank Jackson split time initiating Duke’s offense without its starting point guard in Allen. Jackson came off the bench for 16 points and three assists in 29 minutes. Sophomore guard Luke Kennard also scored 16 in a game-high 40 minutes, going 6-of- 20 from the floor. Only freshman Jayson Tatum logged more attempts in a game this season with 22 against Elon on Dec. 21. Will Jefferson and/or Allen play here? “I don’t know,” Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I’ll know right before Tuesday’s game. I won’t know until then. I gotta make a decision on Amile. He’s not running; he’s not running at all. You know you’re a different team, just a different team. Those two guys are really good players.” The Seminoles will be looking for their first win at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium since 2012. And the Blue Devils are still smarting from an 88-72 loss in Tallahassee earlier this season. Rathan-Mayes scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half, helping the Seminoles pull away. Playing its first regular-season game as a top-10 team since 1993, Florida State rolled to its school-record 12th straight victory at the time, breaking a mark that had stood since 1970. Florida State’s reserves outscored their counterparts 21-4, but the biggest difference was points in the paint. With Jefferson sidelined by a bone bruise in his right foot, the Seminoles enjoyed a 56-28 scoring advantage inside. Kennard led Duke with 23 points and Tatum had 21.

Florida State at Duke Expert Pick: FSU

Wait and see on Allen and Jefferson before plopping down a bet. Take FSU if both sit.