Marshall vs. Duquesne Prediction and Odds for Thursday, December 8 (Back Kinsey and Marshall's Offense)
By Josh Yourish
We’ve got a very good mid-major matchup on our hands. The 7-1 Thundering Herd of Marshall take on the 7-1 Duquesne Dukes. A win in this game will be good for the at-large possibilities of either the A10 or the Sun Belt because it’ll reinforce the strength of the entire conference. The A10 just took a big hit with St. Louis’s embarrassing loss to Iona, so the Dukes need to pick up the slack. They’re coming off a 78-77 win over Ball State on Saturday, while Marshall took an 83-69 victory over Ohio the same day.
Here are the odds for this mid-major showdown, and I’ll tell you how I’m betting it.
Marshall vs. Duquesne Odds, Spread and Total
Marshall vs. Duquesne Prediction and Pick
Both of these teams are offense-first units that excel at that end of the floor, but they do it in pretty different ways. Duquesne averages 79.0 points a game and it's been shooting 39.9% from deep, which is 18th best in the country. Marshall on the other side is only shooting 33.8% from deep and 47.1% from the field, but are 17th in the nation in points per game, 83.8.
The difference here is the pace at which these teams play. Marshall averages the 27th most possessions per game, while Duquesne is 240th in that statistic. That makes Marshall a much more reliable team from game to game, because the shots aren't falling, it will get enough possessions to make up for it. It’s about having more bites at the apple or darts to throw at the dartboard.
The Thundering Herd also have Taevion Kinsey, who will be the best player on the floor. Kinsey is averaging 20.5 points, 5.4 assists, and 2.2 steals. He is just one half of their lethal 1-2 punch. Andrew Taylor is also scoring 19.4 points a night, so if Kinsey goes cold, Taylor can pick up the offense.
I trust Marshall’s ability to score much more than Duquesne’s, but if the Dukes get hot from deep, then they can absolutely win this game. Marshall is just more reliable and I think the Thundering Herd win it outright.
Pick: Marshall ML +118
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change