After a return to winning ways Tuesday against Louisville, No. 12 Duke returns home with a Saturday afternoon matchup against Clemson. The Blue Zone is here with some can’t miss prop bets:
Duke (-7) vs. Clemson
This weekend game will be an important one for both teams, as the two squads will be looking to string together two consecutive wins. The Tigers are coming off a decisive 78-67 win on the road against Florida State, while the Blue Devils played a weaker game against Louisville but still managed to prevail.
That being said, it has been an up-and-down season for Clemson on the whole. The Tigers are just 3-4 in the ACC, with losses to weaker squads like Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. While there have been flashes in the non-conference, like a rivalry win against a punchy South Carolina group and a nine-point win against Pittsburgh, the recent conference slate has been worse. Duke is the better team, and will be playing angry after some less-than-ideal performances as of late. Look for the Blue Devils to cover the spread in this one.
Pick: Duke -7
Over/Under 153.5 points
The two teams combined are both solid offensive groups, averaging a total of 162.4 points per game. Clemson is a strong shooting team from deep, with four relatively high-volume shooters who have all posted more than 50 attempts from behind the arc. The squad as a whole averages 36% from deep. Duke is also a strong scoring team, with players like sophomore forward Kyle Filipowski and sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor providing a significant amount of volume scoring for the team. While the Blue Devil defense has held teams to a respectable 67 points per game compared to the Tigers’ 73.1 points allowed, this one will likely end up as a shoot-out. Watch for the Clemson deep ball to quickly rack up scoring, and Duke’s well-tuned offense to provide consistent quality looks. If the shots are falling for both teams, this will probably be a high-scoring affair.
Pick: Over 153.5 total points
Tyrese Proctor over/under 3.5 assists
It was a very strong performance for the Australian against Louisville, as he posted a career-high 24-point game along with four assists and only one turnover. Now, Duke will need him to do it again. With the status of senior guard and captain Jeremy Roach in question, the Blue Devils will likely lean even more heavily on Proctor to play significant minutes against the Tigers and facilitate the offense. Most likely, he’ll continue on what has been an upward trajectory after an ankle injury that saw him sidelined for three games, and put on another strong performance Saturday night. If Proctor can find Filipowski and other scorers, he will be able to easily clear the 3.5 assist mark.
Pick: Over 3.5 assists
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Martin Heintzelman is a Trinity junior and Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.