Thursday, May 17th, 2012
It will be the top seeded Duke Blue Devils from the ACC conference taking on the West Virginia Mountaineers the two seed from the Big East conference in a Final Four NCAA Tournament college basketball game on Saturday. Tip off time from the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis Indiana is scheduled for 8:45PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by CBS.
The LVSC college basketball odds makers have set the opening betting line in this Final Four NCAA Tournament game and it was Duke Blue Devils opening as 2 point betting favorites with the over under coming in at 131.
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The college basketball betting public have came in early on the side of the favorite from the ACC conference, as the Duke Blue Devils are currently 2 ½ point betting favorites. The total has seen the early money come on the side of the under, as the game is lined at 130 ½.
Those betting on the Duke Blue Devils on the money line will find –140 odds with the underdog West Virginia Mountaineers bringing back +130 to win this game outright without taking the points.
These schools last met in the 2008 NCAA Tournament and it was West Virginia pulling out the 73-67 victory as a 4-point underdog. Duke was held to just 38% shooting from the field and 5 of 22 from three in defeat. West Virginia destroyed Duke on the boards winning the rebounding battle by a 48-31 differential with 18 boards coming on the offensive end.
The West Virginia Mountaineers punched their ticket to Indianapolis with their 73-66 victory against the top seeded Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday. The Mountaineers held just a 28-26 halftime lead and extended it to a 15 point lead in the first 15 minutes of the second half that led the team to victory. The Mountaineers once again won this game on the defensive end because they simply could not make their shots. West Virginia hit on just 38% of their shots and 10 of 23 from three. They lost the rebounding battle to Kentucky by a 45-34 margin. Kentucky had an awful game hitting on only 34% of their shots and a horrid 4 of 32 from three and 16 of 29 from the free throw line. Guard Da’Sean Butler led the Mountaineers with 18 points and 6 rebounds in victory but it was another sub par shooting performance to get those points and he could only make 4 of 15 from the field. It was another game where Butler couldn’t make shots but his defense bailed him out.
The Mountaineers began their play in the NCAA Tournament falling behind to Morgan St 10-0 in the opening minutes. West Virginia then rallied to pull away with the 77-50 win as a 17-point favorite. They then faced Missouri and came away with the 68-59 victory as a 6-point favorite. They then battled the Washington Huskies from the Pac 10 and came away with the 69-56 victory as a 4-½ point betting favorite. The Mountaineers defense has been outstanding in this NCAA Tournament allowing no better than 39.3% shooting in their four games.
It was the Duke Blue Devils earning a Final Four trip after defeating the Baylor Bears 78-71 in Baylor’s home state of Texas. Duke rallied with a nice second half effort after falling behind 35-32 to Baylor at the intermission. Duke pulled away in the games final 3:34 putting together a 17-10 run to break a 61-61 tie. The Blue Devils hit on only 36% of their shots but made their three pointers in this game. Duke hit on 11 of 23 from beyond the arc and got hot from three during the teams run in the second half. They also made the most of their chances from the charity stripe making 23 of 29. It was a fantastic rebounding effort by Duke by beating the Bears on the glass by a 41-35 margin. Baylor had a rough time of it making only 63% of their free throws and 5 of 18 from beyond the arc. Guard Nolan Smith had an outstanding game for the Blue Devils with 29 points of 9 of 17 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free throw line.
Duke began their play in the 2010 NCAA Tournament with a 73-44 pounding of Arkansas Pine Bluff as a 25-point favorite. They then disposed of the Pac 10 regular season champion California Golden Bears 68-53 as 6-½ point betting favorites. They held California to just 39.6% shooting. Duke then drew the Purdue Boilermakers in the South regional semifinals and posted the 70-57 win as 8 ½ point favorites. They held their first three opponents in the NCAA Tournament to under 40% shooting from the field.
Duke is a high scoring basketball team ranking 24th in all of college basketball in scoring offense by averaging 77.4 points per game. It will put the West Virginia defense to the test but the team is solid in that area ranking 25th in college basketball by allowing an average of 60.9 points per game.
Trend: Duke Blue Devils are 4-0 ATS in the NCAA Tournament
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