The number seven-seed Duke Blue Devils (22-9, 8-8 ACC) are 9 ½ point favorites coming into their ACC Tournament opening round game with 10-seed North Carolina State (15-14, 5-11 ACC) when they tip off at 7 p.m. Eastern from St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla. ESPN2 will televise the contest.
The Blue Devils are coming off back-to-back losses including an 86-72 decision at North Carolina on Sunday. N.C. State had dropped three of its last four decisions, including a 79-59 loss to Maryland on Saturday. Thursday’s game marks the 23rd meeting between the two schools in the ACC Tournament. Duke has a 14-8 edge over the Wolfpack in ACC Tournament action.
In other ACC Tournament action, five-seed Maryland takes on number 12 Miami in the 2 p.m. game. The nationally ranked Terps (17 AP) are expected to cruise past the outmanned Hurricanes and are installed as -13 point favorites. A total of 148 has been set for totals betting.Â
The Terps carry a mark of 24-7 (10-6 ACC) into the contest, while Miami is 11-19 (4-12 ACC). The Terrapins enter Thursday's game on a seven-game winning streak while Miami has lost each of its last three games, including a 98-90 decision against Florida State on Saturday.
Maryland senior D.J. Strawberry leads the Terps with 15.2 points per game. He is 11th in the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring. Sophomore Jack McClinton leads the Hurricanes with 16.8 points per game. He is ninth in the ACC in scoring and leads the league in three-point percentage (.438).
Georgia Tech is the No. 6 seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and plays its first-round game Thursday at 9:30 p.m. against 11th-seed Wake Forest. The Yellow Jackets tied Duke for sixth place in the ACC regular season and earned the No. 6 seed in a tiebreaker. Georgia Tech is a -10 point favorite in the game with a 142 ½ point total. All lines and totals on ACC Tournament Games can be found at offshore sportsbook BoDog.com.
