The No. 12 Duke Blue Devils still have a march madness betting chance as the 16th seed overall and the No. 4 seed in a Midwest Region in the NCAA Tournament selection committee revealed its preliminary rankings. But would people betting on March madness bet on Duke University tonight against the No. 14 Virginia Cavaliers?
Duke +5 (-110) 131½ (-110) +175
Virginia -5 (-110) 131½ (-110) -210
The Blue Devils won their fifth game in a row on Saturday, 64-62 against the Clemson Tigers. Luke Kennard had 25 points, including 15 straight during a 9 1/2 minute stretch in the second half in which no other Duke player scored. The BDs were physically and emotionally depleted after a win over rivals North Carolina only 48 hours before and squandered a 14-point lead in the second half. The Tigers were eager to join NC State and earn their first victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium since the 1995 season and everything seemed to indicate that would be the final outcome. However, Clemson missed a 3-point shot in the last seconds. Kennard deflected a pass out of bounds near half court with 4.3 seconds remaining to set up the Tigers’ final inbounds play. Donte Grantham inbounded the ball in to Shelton Mitchell, who dribbled toward the right wing but couldn’t get a clean look against Matt Jones before the buzzer. As Jones philosophically put it after the game, “a win’s a win, man.”
The Cavaliers have a tough road to march madness betting ahead of them – and before them as well. UVA lost the Commonwealth Clash 78-80 in double overtime against Virginia Tech on Sunday. London Perrantes had 22 points but missed 15 of his 22 field goals. Kyle Guy had 12 points, Marial Shayok added 11, and Devon Hall had 10 points. The Cavs have lost three of their last five games, coincidentally three games in which they have dominated until dropping the ball at the very end. For example, in Sunday’s first OT Perrantes drove for what looked to be a go-ahead layup with 21 seconds remaining, but the ball bounced on the rim and rolled all the way around and over the backboard. “I couldn’t do that if I tried again,” Perrantes said. Well, you probably shouldn’t try again. In spite of the loss, head coach Tony ‘I Left my Heart in San Francisco’ Bennett thinks “there will be some positives. It’s just hard to grasp them right now”. UVA and Duke are currently tied for fourth place in the ACC with an 8-4 record. Duke defeated Virginia 63-62 last season in Durham and has a two-game winning streak in the series. The Cavs are 3-3 against ranked teams this season. Virginia rank first nationally in scoring defense at 55.1 points per game. In March madness betting news UVA earned a No. 3 seed in the West Region in the first reveal of the top 16 NCAA tournament seeds. Just a little something for fans planning on betting on March madness.