Duke Blue Devils vs West Virginia Mountaineers Betting
How Duke got there: The easiest path of any of the Final Four teams besides Michigan State, Duke did earn a 1 seed through a regular season of nearly flawless play. The Blue Devils played play in winner Arkansas Pine Bluff in the first round, beating them by 29 points. Duke then faced Cal in the second round, winning 68-53 in a game that many felt may have been a trap game for the Blue Devils. Of all the stars on the team, it was unsung senior center Brian Zoubek who carried Duke to victory behind 14 points and 13 rebounds on the day. The Blue Devils faced off against 4 seed Purdue in the Sweet 16, luckily avoiding 4 seed Texas A&M. Purdue was a team that many felt would lose in the first round, particularly without Robbie Hummel, its star player. Though Duke held just a one point lead at the half, the Blue Devils outscored the Boilermakers 46-34 the rest of the way to win by 13. Finally, Duke faced off against Baylor, beating the Bears 79-71 behind a combined 49 points from guards Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith.
How West Virginia got there: The Mountaineers certainly earned their bid in the Final Four. West Virginia beat a tough Morgan State squad, coached by Todd Bozeman, a man who has been to a few NCAA Tournaments with Cal. West Virginia then faced off against 10 seed Missouri, an Elite Eight team in 2009. The Mountaineers won 68-59, but didn’t get out without a scare of an upset. West Virginia was fortunate to play 11 seed Washington rather than 6 seed Marquette or 3 seed New Mexico, but the Huskies played West Virginia surprisingly close, and trailed by 1 point with 14 minutes left in the game before losing by 13. Finally, in the Elite Eight, the Mountaineers faced off against what many believed to be the toughest team remaining in the tournament: 1 seed Kentucky. It wasn’t pretty, but West Virginia’s 1 3 1 zone forced Kentucky to settle for jump shots and ultimately was the game changing strategy that allowed the Mountaineers to advance to the Final Four.
What to expect: Many expect Duke to win this game, but if West Virginia is able to implement the 1 3 1 zone on defense, it will force Duke to settle for jump shots. If the Blue Devils come out cold, the Mountaineers should capitalize, as they have better athletes. Take West Virginia and the money line, which is around +140, as West Virginia would have to win the game 42% of the time to make this a profitable play over time. As it stands, the Mountaineers are more in the range of 50/50, not 42/58.
