Georgia Tech at Duke Lines, Betting Pick & TV Info

The greatest college basketball coach ever has to be former UCLA legend John Wooden what with his 10 national titles. But No. 2 and not far behind is Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, especially when you consider all that he has done for the USA National Team in the Olympics. Well, Wednesday’s game for No. 8 Duke vs. Georgia Tech will be the Blue Devils’ last with Coach K for about a month. They are solid college basketball betting favorites over the Jackets.

Georgia Tech at Duke Lines, Betting Pick & TV Info

UNC’s upset loss to Georgia Tech caps chaotic start to ACC race: Takeaways https://t.co/8xwIhrwrGb via @CBSSportsCBB

— GT Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) January 2, 2017

When: Wednesday, Jan. 4, 7 PM ET Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham TV: ESPN2 Stream: WatchESPN Radio: Georgia Tech / Duke Opening NCAA Basketball Lines: TBA

Why Bet On Georgia Tech?

The Jackets (9-4) come off an upset of No. 9 North Carolina, 75-63. Josh Okogie scored 26 points, Ben Lammers had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Georgia Tech pulled off the major stunner on Saturday in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. North Carolina never led after Okogie hit two free throws with 11:59 remaining. Before tipoff it seemed the Jackets had little chance to win. They didn’t beat North Carolina A&T, which is 1-12, until the closing minutes. They also barely held off Wofford last week by four points and lost by 17 to Georgia. All were home games. The win snapped Tech’s seven-game losing streak in the series. Georgia Tech won its first ACC opener since the 2005-06 season (an early December win over Virginia). It snapped a 10-year losing streak in ACC openers. Tech played its shortest bench of the season (16 minutes by three players). Quinton Stephens and Lammers each played a season-high 38 minutes (for a regulation game). Tech trailed at the half for just the third time this season. The Jackets are now 1-3 in those games. But the Jackets led for 21:04 of the game, including the last 11:59. The Jackets held North Carolina 26 points under its season average and four under its previous low (76- 67 loss at Indiana). Tech also held North Carolina to 33.3-percent shooting from the floor (season average 48.6 pct.), the fifth straight game the Jackets have limited an opponent under 40 percent. Since Tech’s loss at Tennessee on Dec. 3 (the last six games), the Jackets have limited opponents to 36 percent from the floor. Tech had a season-high 15 steals, 11 in the first half alone, one more than its season high up to this game. The Jackets forced 20 turnovers, the third time this season they have forced 20 or more (VCU, Alcorn State), and have forced an average of 16 over its last six games. Georgia Tech has hit 63.4 percent of its free throws in its wins, 73.2 percent in its losses. However, the Jackets have outscored their opponents 17.1-11.1 points per game from the line in their eight wins, and have been outscored 12.0-10.3 per game in four losses.

Why Bet On Duke?

Coach K will have back surgery on Friday and miss around four weeks. Associate head coach Jeff Capel will coach the team while Krzyzewski recovers. Capel’s first game will be Saturday against Boston College. Krzyzewski had back issues in 1994, following surgery in October, and he stepped away in January 1995 for the remainder of the season. Duke was 9-3 overall at the time and 0-1 in ACC play. Under Pete Gaudet, the Blue Devils went 4-15 the rest of the season. That was the last Blue Devils team to miss the NCAA tournament. The Blue Devils dropped three spots to No. 8 — their lowest ranking of the season — in the AP Top 25 released Monday. Duke is 12-2 after losing at Virginia Tech on Saturday without Grayson Allen, who is serving an indefinite suspension for his most recent tripping incident. With Krzyzewski set to have surgery, Duke not only enters into an uncertain window, but the Allen suspension and when it might end becomes harder to forecast. It seems an easier decision to lift the Allen suspension before Krzyzweski goes under the knife. Duke was nowhere as good as Virginia Tech in the 89-75 loss Saturday. The Hokies led from start to finish, jumping out to a 47-31 halftime lead. The Blue Devils got as close to 52-41 in the second half after a 3-pointer by Luke Kennard with 15:29 remaining, but got no closer. Duke had just eight assists. “We weren’t ready,” Amile Jefferson said. “We have to be together. We have to be all in and we played a really good basketball team …. It’s not going to get any easier.” Kennard paced the Blue Devils with 34 points. Kennard is shooting 19-of- 36 (.528) from three-point range over the team’s last six games. It was the seventh game this season he paced Duke’s scoring efforts. Duke is 5-2 this year when he leads the team in scoring. Kennard also scored 20+ points for the eighth time this season and the 15th time in his career, with Duke owning a 7-2 record this season in such games. Jefferson hauled in double-digit rebounds for the eighth game this season and the 25th time in his career. Duke is 22-3 when Jefferson posts 10+ rebounds in a game. Duke outrebounded Virginia Tech, 41-33, the 11th game this season the Blue Devils collected more rebounds than their opponent.

Georgia Tech at Duke Betting Pick: Duke Blue Devils

Take Duke on NCAAB odds. The guys will want to win for their coach.