Duke Blue Devils vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish CBB Betting Picks

The 2-2 Duke Blue Devils will go on the road Wednesday night to face off with the 2-2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at 9:00 PM ET in Purcell Pavilion. The Blue Devils come in as four-point road favorites and we’re looking at a high 146 over/under. You can tune into the matchup on ESPN. Let’s dive into how this one will go down and who will end up covering the spread. Make sure to check out the rest of our CBB Picks and Predictions for the upcoming weekend slate of games.

• Blue Devils are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall.
• Fighting Irish are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games following a ATS win.
• Under is 5-0 in Blue Devils last 5 games following a double-digit loss at home.
• Under is 6-1 in Fighting Irish last 7 games as a home underdog.

It hasn’t been a great start to the season for Duke, but the two teams they have lost to are eighth-ranked Michigan State and sixth-ranked Illinois. This is a young Duke team and hope is far from lost. They are just still learning to play with each other and played two teams that have far more experience. They’re led by sophomore forward Matthew Hurt, who’s averaging 19 points and 8.3 rebounds per game as one of the best players in the country.

Freshman phenoms Jalen Johnson and D.J. Steward have both averaged double-figures, but they haven’t necessarily been efficient. Johnson has turned it over 3.3 times per game with Steward at 2.8. Jordan Goldwire is also turning it over 2.8 times per game and scoring just six. Hurt needs a lot more help out of these guards, but this is a dangerous squad if they can put it all together.

Things have gone similarly for Notre Dame as they’ve split their four games down the half. Their two losses came to Michigan State and Ohio State, who are two very talented teams with a ton of upside. They’re coming off a win over Kentucky, so they at least have a quality win that Duke doesn’t have. They’re led offensively by superstar junior point guard Prentiss Hubb, who’s put up 21.3 points per game with 4.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds per contest. He’s one of the best players in the entire country and he will give the Duke Guards trouble defensively.

The supporting cast is solid as well. Three others average double-figures with big man Nate Laszewski leading the way with 16.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. Both Hubb and Laszewski play 36+ minutes per game, so they don’t come off the court often. Dane Goodwin and Cormac Ryan are two utility guards that can do it all. Both average 10+ PPG and four rebounds with Ryan also putting up four-plus assists.

This Duke team isn’t going to become experienced overnight. The Fighting Irish rank 19th in the country with a 41.6% 3PT and the Blue Devils have struggled guarding the perimeter early in the season. Prentiss Hubb will rival Matthew Hurt as the best player on the court and he will wreak havoc defensively. I like the Fighting Irish to keep it close at the very least and I would be far from shocked if they won the game out right. 

The defense in this game won’t be high-level and neither offense has been efficient. The Blue Devils turn the ball over 15+ times a game and the Fighting Irish aren’t necessarily safe with the ball either. A lot of this game will be played in transition, where both teams struggle defensively and get into foul trouble. This is a sharp number, but I certainly lean the over as both offenses have the upside to score 80.