After Auburn dropped its regular season finale to Alabama in overtime, the Duke Blue Devils became the No. 1 team in the country. Led by potential National Player of the Year Cooper Flagg, the Blue Devils are 28-3 overall and rolled to a 19-1 record in the ACC. Jon Scheyer’s group are the prohibitive favorites to win the ACC Tournament this week in Charlotte, and now that Georgia Tech knocked off Virginia in the first round, they have their opponent.
Duke and Georgia Tech have already met this season, an 82-56 Duke road win back in December, and the bookmakers expect this one to have a similar ending. The Blue Devils are big-time favorites in the ACC quarterfinals and here’s how you can watch the No. 1 team in the country kick off its postseason run on Thursday afternoon.
How to watch Georgia Tech vs. Duke in the ACC Tournament
- Date: Thursday, March 13
- Time: Noon ET
- Venue: Spectrum Center
- How to Watch (TV): ESPN
- Streaming: fubo TV
- Georgia Tech record: 19-12 (10-10)
- Duke record: 23-8 (12-8)
Georgia Tech vs. Duke odds, spread and total
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Moneyline
- Georgia Tech +114
- Duke -137
Spread
- Georgia Tech +2.5 (-118)
- Duke -2.5 (-104)
Total
- 143.5 (over -105/under -115)
Georgia Tech injury report
- Javian McCollum, G: OUT (head)
Duke injury report
- N/A
Duke and Georgia Tech series history
- Duke all-time record vs. Georgia Tech: 1-3
Georgia Tech vs. Duke prediction
Georgia Tech 6-foot-8 junior wing Duncan Powell has been a streaky scorer this year, and he had it rolling on Wednesday afternoon against Virginia. With leading scorer Lance Terry going an ice-cold 1-8 from the field for four points and Javian McCollum still out with an injury, Powell carried the Yellow Jackets with 21 points on 9-14 shooting. However, Damon Stoudamire won’t be able to count on that production because Powell was coming into the ACC Tournament off of a goose egg in the regular season finale against Wake Forest.
Along with being one of the most efficient scorers in the country, Cooper Flagg is also Duke’s best defender. While he can be incredibly disruptive off the ball, forcing turnovers with deflections and steals, and blocking shots, he’s also the perfect size to match Powell one-on-one and take him out of the game. Powell went 3-10 for 13 points in their last meeting.
While Duke dominated Georgia Tech on both ends of the floor in that matchup, the most noticeable discrepancy was on the boards with the Blue Devil’s freshman center Khaman Maluach grabbing six offensive rebounds and finishing with 15 points on a perfect 5-5 from the field.
Duke has only gotten better since that meeting and has an obvious rest advantage with the Yellow Jackets playing a close game down to the wire with Virginia on Wednesday. Jon Scheyer’s team is playing for the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and will be out to make a statement with a big win to open the postseason.