Duke vs. Syracuse prediction and odds for Saturday, February 18 (Trust Orange at home)

Syracuse is not having the year they had hoped for as they flounder around the middle of the ACC, but they have an opportunity to score a signature victory against Duke on Saturday night.

The Blue Devils have pronounced road woes this season and have also fallen way short of expectations to this point in the season. Can they get on track in a tough environment against a zone defense?

Here are the odds for Saturday’s matchup:

Duke vs. Syracuse odds, spread and total

Duke vs. Syracuse prediction and pick

Duke has one of the biggest drop offs in production when they leave Cameron Indoor Stadium, 2-10 against the spread (ATS) on the road this season. The team consistently is overvalued in the market due to their name brand, but the Jon Scheyer regime has not found its footing on the road just yet.

Now, they head to Syracuse to face a team that exclusively runs a zone defense and can give the Blue Devils offense troubles as the team struggles to shoot from the perimeter. Duke is bottom 25 in mid-range field goal percentage nationally and 258th in three-point percentage. The Syracuse zone defense forces teams to create from outside the paint and that can lead to several empty possessions for the Blue Devils.

While the Blue Devils have an advantage on the glass, the team is top 10 in generating offensive rebounds, I trust the Syracuse defense to keep the team outside the paint and take advantage of a team that has routinely struggled on the road this season. Further, Duke has the second highest turnover rate in league play and Syracuse is second in generating them.

Ultimately, I can’t trust this Blue Devils on the road against any team, including a Syracuse team that runs a defense that can exploit Duke’s biggest issues of perimeter shooting.

Take the (small) home dog.

Track all of Reed’s bets at Betstamp HERE!

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.