An exciting Atlantic Coast Conference clash will occur on Saturday night, with Duke traveling to Charlottesville to face off with Virginia.
TV schedule: Saturday, February 29, 6:00 pm ET. ESPN.
Arena: John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.
A pair of the top teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference will meet up on Saturday evening at John Paul Jones Arena, as Virginia hosts Duke. The No. 7 Blue Devils (23-5, 13-4) enter this encounter having lost their most-recent duel at Wake Forest, in double overtime, on Feb. 25.
A day later, the Cavaliers (20-7, 12-5) ran their current success streak to five tilts with a triumph at Virginia Tech. This league bout is pivotal for each crew. At this juncture, Duke is in third place in the conference standings, one game behind ACC leader Florida State. Virginia, meanwhile, sits in fourth place, two affairs back of the Seminoles.
As March Madness lurks on the horizon in a mere few weeks, it’s safe to say that both the Blue Devils and the Cavaliers will hear their names called on Selection Sunday. Duke is presently at No. 6 in the NCAA NET system and projected by bracketologists as a No. 2 seed in the field of 68.
Virginia, the defending national champions, doesn’t have an overwhelmingly strong resume, but the Cavaliers are at No. 51 in the NET and forecast as a No. 9 seed in the Big Dance.
What makes the battle between UVA and the Blue Devils intriguing is that they are basically polar opposites. Duke averages a whopping 83.3 points per meeting, which is No. 1 in the ACC and No. 2 across the country, only trailing Gonzaga.
Conversely, the Cavaliers, unsurprisingly because of their recent history, have the stingiest defense in the ACC and throughout collegiate hoops, allowing just 52.7 points per contest. It seems that something will have to give on Saturday.
Since Virginia isn’t all that terrific at shooting from the field as a whole and from beyond the arc, extra possessions via the offensive glass and easy buckets by way of turnovers will prove critical. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, the Blue Devils will have a key rebounding advantage heading into this match-up.
To date in the 2019-20 campaign, Duke is a respectable 7-3 on the road, whereas UVA boasts a 12-3 mark on its own turf. ESPN’s Basketball Power Index says that the Blue Devils hold a convincing 74.6 percent chance to prevail versus Virginia.
Overall in their long series together, Duke is out in front by a wide margin, 121-51, and that includes a 40-34 record in Charlottesville. In the near term, the Blue Devils have captured three-consecutive conquests against the Cavaliers, and I project that Duke is going to increase that count to four in a row.
Prediction: Duke 67 – Virginia 62