Boston College Eagles at Duke Blue Devils

Betting Odds

Point Spread: Duke Blue Devils (-16.5)
Game Total Line: (149)
(wagering lines available at 5Dimes)

The Boston College Eagles will take their best shot at toppling the best of the ACC when they face the No.3 Duke Blue Devils this Thursday night at the Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.com.

Boston College has lost two of its last three games heading into Thursday’s showdown with Duke. The Eagles lost a one-point 72-71 nail biter to Miami on Jan. 15 as a five-point road underdog. They managed to get by Virginia 70-67 the next time out as an 8.5-point home favorite, but fell to Florida State 67-51 as an 8.5-point road underdog this past Saturday. B.C. is now 14-6 straight-up on the year and 8-8 against the spread. It is 4-2 SU in the ACC.

The Eagles have four players scoring in double-figures with junior guard Reggie Jackson leading the way with 19.1 points a game. He also leads the team in assists with an average of 4.9 per game. Senior forward Joe Trapani is the leading rebounder with 6.9 per game and second in scoring with an average of 14.2 points. Senior forward Corey Raji has shot an impressive 53 percent from the field while adding 12.2 points and 6.7 rebounds a game.

Boston College is shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from three-point range. Scoring has not been their problem as the Eagles are averaging 74 points a game. The main problem area for this team is under the boards where they are averaging just 32 rebounds a game.

Duke is back on track with three straight double-digit victories since dropping a 66-61 decision the Florida State earlier this month as a seven-point road favorite. It was the Blue Devils first loss of the season and cost them their No.1 ranking. They are currently 18-1 SU overall (10-8 ATS) and tied with Seminoles in the conference at 5-1 SU.

Senior guard Nolan Smith is Duke’s leading scorer with an average of 20.1 points per game, but he is in some pretty good company with senior forward Kyle Singler and freshman guard Kyrie Irving. Singler is averaging 18.1 points per game and Irving is averaging 17.4. Irving has been out of the lineup since early December with a toe injury, but sophomore guard Andre Dawkins has done a good job filling the void; shooting 53 percent from the field and averaging 10.9 points per game.

The Blue Devils are the fourth highest scoring team in the nation with an average of 85.7 points per game. They are shooting 48 percent from the floor and 75.8 percent from the foul line. Duke is averaging just below 40 percent from three-point range and pulling down 39 rebounds per game.

Boston College is 2-2 ATS in its last four road games and 3-2 ATS in its last five games overall. The total has stayed ‘under’ in three of its last four games.

Duke is 2-4 ATS in its last six games at home and 2-3 ATS in its last five games overall. The total has stayed ‘under’ in three of its last five games.

Head-to-head, the Blue Devils have won nine of the last 10 games SU but the Eagles are 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings. The total has stayed ‘under’ in the last three.

Against the Spread Game Pick

Duke was favored by 15.5 points the last time these two played at Cameron and this time around the opening line could once again be that high. Recently B.C. has been tough to beat ATS in this series so any spread greater than 12 points would make the Eagles a solid pick in this game.
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