Virginia Cavaliers vs. Duke Blue Devils Prediction & Game Preview - 2/7/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, NC

Where to watch: ESPN

DraftKings: Duke -12

BetMGM: Duke -12.5

Caesars: Duke -11.5

Virginia: 14-9 (8-5 ACC)

No. 9 Duke: 19-3 (9-2 ACC)

Normally I would know better than to bet against Tony Bennett and the Virginia Cavaliers when it ever came to an actual game that mattered. But we need to face reality when it comes to Virginia, and that's the fact that right now the Cavaliers are not where we are accustomed to seeing them at this point in the season.

And Virginia is coming into this game having won three of their last four which includes a very impressive win against the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday.

But we're getting to the nitty-gritty with this last stretch of the season and if there's anything that we know about the Duke Blue Devils in this current state, they want to win any game that they can for Mike Krzyzewski Is truly the countdown of his final season. And because of that I would be very wary of betting against Duke at any point for the rest of the season and I would strongly suggest you stay away from betting against Coach K and the Blue Devils.

In what was the legendary head coach's final appearance in Chapel Hill on Saturday, the Blue Devils dominated their in-state rivals by 20 points, in what might have been Duke's most resounding victory of this season.

AJ Griffin was the star of this night scoring 27 points, which was a game-high, and Duke also got 13 points each from Wendell Moore and Paolo Banchero. The star freshman missed nine of his 14 shot attempts, but did finish with 10 rebounds and was a force on the glass with Duke grabbing 16 more rebounds than North Carolina.

“We wanted to send him out with a win, because he definitely deserves it,” said Moore Jr.

Duke continues to fluctuate up and down the ACC standings but has seemed to find a groove over the last five games since their one-point loss on the road to the Florida State Seminoles. The winds may not look as impressive considering it's against the likes of Syracuse, Clemson, and even Louisville, but having played three straight road games and winning them all by at least nine points has to give some betters on Duke side much more relief and confidence knowing that they can finish this season strong.

Duke will play Virginia again on February 23rd at Virginia, So there might be a revenge factor later on down the road. But this will be the Blue Devils' first home game since January 25th and you have to think that the home crowd will be ready to welcome their team back home, even if it's only for a short time. Duke has to hit the road for two more games at Clemson at Boston College before returning home for two more at home.

Again, I don't want to discredit Virginia just based on legacy alone. Virginia remains one of the strongest defensive teams in the country by just allowing less than 60 points per game and is making its own shots at a near 46% clip. But Duke's offensive firepower and the ability to win the battle on the boards is going to make this a fairly easy night for the home team, and I would not be surprised if the final score ended up in a much bigger row than we had anticipated in the beginning. Duke by 18

The under is 94-53 for Virginia in February since 1997.

Virginia is 4-14 ATS off a home win by 10 points or more.

The over is 29-14 when Duke is a home favorite in the past three seasons.

Duke is 37-8 straight up at home in its last 45.

PG: Kihei Clark

SG: Reece Beckman
SF: Armaan Franklin
PF: Jayden Gardner
C: Francisco Caffaro

PG: Jeremy Roach

SG: A.J. Griffin
SF: Wendell Moore
PF: Paolo Banchero
C: Mark Williams