Duke will look to snap a two-game losing streak by taking down Notre Dame.
It has officially reached gut-check time for Duke’s NCAA Tournament hopes. It hasn’t been pretty for the Blue Devils, who have skidded completely off the bubble after losses to Miami and North Carolina last week, putting the program in jeopardy of missing March Madness for the first time since 1995.
Saturday’s setback against the Tar Heels was discouraging because Duke had a major letdown on the defensive end of the floor. North Carolina was prolific from the perimeter, knocking down 10-of-15 three-point attempts despite entering the game shooting just 30 percent from beyond-the-arc.
That scoring barrage made it difficult for the Blue Devils to keep up despite strong offensive performances from Jeremy Roach and Wendell Moore, who combined for 31 points in the defeat. The loss dropped Duke to just 7-7 overall and 5-5 in ACC play, figures that leave the Blue Devils out of contention for March Madness when combined with a NET rating of 71 and a lack of signature victories.
Picking up a win over Notre Dame won’t help the latter case for the Blue Devils but at this point, Mike Krzyzewski’s team just needs to accumulate wins, period. The Fighting Irish are one of the few teams in the ACC that has been worse than Duke this season, checking into this game at 7-10 overall and 4-7 in league play.
These teams met back in December with the Blue Devils picking up a 10-point victory in South Bend. Duplicating that feat is a necessity as Duke essentially needs to run the table to have a chance at snagging an at-large bid to avoid needing to win the ACC Tournament to snag the conference’s automatic bid to dance.
How to bet and watch Notre Dame at Duke
- Date: Tuesday, Feb. 9
- Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
- Location: Durham, NC
- Venue: Cameron Indoor Stadium
- TV: ACC Network
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
- Line: Duke -6.5 (FanDuel)
- Prediction: Duke 78, Notre Dame 66
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