The No.1-seeded Duke Blue Devils face off against the No.5-seeded Utah Utes in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament at NRG Stadium – Houston, TX. Action begins at 9:45 pm ET on Friday, Mar. 27.
The Blue Devils come into this game hoping to repeat their last performance, blowing out San Diego State 68-49 in the third round. Jahlil Okafor was the game’s leading scorer with 28 points. The Utes, meanwhile, are coming off a 75-64 win against Georgetown in the third round. Delon Wright played well for Utah, recording 16 points, five assists, and three rebounds
From an eFG% perspective, this will be a matchup of two heavyweights. Duke’s upper-echelon offense is ranked fourth in the nation in that metric at 57.2%, while Utah is fifth-best in the nation at making opponents miss (42.4%).
Duke is a five-point favorite against Utah and the Over/Under (O/U) for this game is sitting at 136 points. The Blue Devils come into this game 31-4 Straight Up (SU) and 20-14-1 Against The Spread (ATS). The rebounding edge goes to the Blue Devils in this matchup, who are one of the top rebounding teams in the nation with an average of 37.4 boards per game. Duke is one of the most disciplined teams in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.40.
In the other locker room, the Utes have a record of 22-11 ATS and 26-8 SU. The Utes convert their shots at a high percentage, ranking eighth in the country at .487. The Utes are the better of the two teams when it comes to assist-to-turnover ratio, ranking 46th in Division I at 1.26. Shifting to the other side of the court, blocking shots is an area where Utah has excelled. The Utes average 5.1 blocks per game, making them one of the best in the nation.
Duke and Utah will be facing off for their first head-to-head game in recent seasons.
Predictions: SU Winner – DUKE, ATS Winner – UTAH, O/U – Over
Notes
The Duke Blue Devils have the third-best offensive rating in the nation (120.9). The Utah Utes have a defensive rating of 159.9 (ranked 45th).
On average, Duke has 67.1 possessions per game and scores 1.209 points on each possession. Utah has both fewer possessions (63.1) and scores fewer points during those possessions (1.146).
The Utah Utes have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking 10th in the country with an eFG% of 56.3%. When their opponents record a similar or higher eFG%, the Duke Blue Devils have a losing 1-3 record.
Duke ranks among the best in the nation in assists at 19th (15.7 assists per game). Utah is ranked 59th with 14.4 assists per game.
The Utah Utes average 5.1 blocks per game, the 22nd-ranked team in the country. The Duke Blue Devils rank a lowly 135th in blocking with just 3.8 per game.
Duke ranks 72nd in offensive rebounding. When it comes to defensive rebounds, Utah ranks 40th.
The Utah Utes make an average of 6.0 steals per game. When the Duke Blue Devils give up 5 or more steals, they are a tremendous 17-3.
