Duke vs. Virginia Betting: Odds, Spread & Prediction

Zion Williamson

Getty Duke Blue Devils forward Zion Williamson

The Virginia Cavaliers will look to get a bit of revenge on the Duke Blue Devils and their group of stud freshmen on Saturday. Zion Williamson and company have fueled the Blue Devils to a 20-2 record and the No. 2 ranking in the country. But the Cavaliers have not only impressed with a 20-1 record, but their only loss came by two to this Duke team at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

When these two teams met back on January 19, Mike Krzyzewski’s team held off a bit of a late rally from Virginia, as they were up 69-61 with 44 seconds remaining. Duke knocked down three of four free throws down the stretch to pick up a 72-70 win, and they’re certainly going to face a huge test in this spot.

Virginia has been exceptional at home, posting a 27-1 record at the John Paul Jones Arena in the past two seasons, including a 4-0 record against ranked teams. We’re going to breakdown the betting aspect of the game while offering a prediction and pick in the marquee Saturday night matchup.


Duke vs. Virginia Betting Line & Odds

*All odds and betting info courtesy of Odds Shark and originally from Bovada

  • Duke Blue Devils vs. Virginia Cavaliers (-1.5 at -115)
  • Over/Under: 136 (-105)

The line opened with the Cavaliers at -2.5 but the action shifted to the Blue Devils a bit. While Virginia remains favored, it’ll be interesting to see how this looks as the game draws closer to the 6 p.m. EST tip. In the first meeting between the two teams, Coach K opted to give his starters heavy run, but he also didn’t have Tre Jones.

Each of Duke’s starters played 33 or more minutes with four of five playing 37-plus, as only Javin DeLaurier and Alex O’Connell played off the bench. DeLaurier picked up five fouls in seven minutes while O’Connell registered just one assist. RJ Barrett starred in that game, racking up 30 points with five rebounds and three assists while Williamson totaled 27 points with six rebounds.

One big topic of this game will be the status of Virginia guard Ty Jerome, who’s battling a back injury. While it seems he’s more likely than not to play, nothing has been set in stone at the time of this post. Jerome logged 35 minutes, scoring 14 points with four rebounds and four assists in the first matchup.


Duke vs. Virginia Prediction & Pick

These two teams are looking to keep pace at the top of the ACC and a Duke win could give them a big edge in the standings against Virginia. As NCAA.com revealed, the Blue Devils have gone 0-2 against top-10 teams on the road since the 2016-17 season, although this team features a unique build.

The home edge is big here for Virginia, as they’ve gone 9-4 against the spread on their own floor this year and 16-5 ATS all season, per Odds Shark. Although the Cavaliers have gone 1-2 against the Blue Devils straight up in the past three meetings, they’ve covered in two of those games. This is a different spot as they would need to win this game outright to cover.

With Jerome’s lingering back injury potentially impacting his outlook and Jones in the lineup for this matchup with Virginia, I think Duke gets the job done and picks up a win. I’ll take the Blue Devils to hand their opponent a rare home loss.

Prediction: Duke 69 Virginia 64

Pick: Duke +1.5