Duke Favored to Take Down Arizona In Clash of Title Contenders
Duke Forward Mark Mitchell Could Be Back for Arizona vs Duke basketball game
Duke and Arizona Are Set to Square Off For the First Time Since 2013
While some other national title contenders are fattening up on mid-major opponents, heavyweights Arizona and Duke are beginning a home-and-home series with the first Arizona vs Duke basketball game being played at Cameron Indoor Stadium with the return matchup coming next season in Arizona.
“We felt this was a great opportunity to play two games against an incredible program like Duke,” Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said when the details about the home-and-home series were announced. “Both programs are national brands with a rich history and have played some memorable games against each other, especially in the NCAA Tournament. But Coach Scheyer and I both felt these games would benefit our programs and be something that our fans would be excited about.”
The teams haven’t met since 2013 at the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden with Arizona taking the last two meetings and winning five of the nine previous meetings. The most noteworthy matchup was the 2001 national title game with Duke winning 82-72.
The college basketball betting lines have seen Duke move from being favored by 5.5 points.
When looking at the college basketball injury report, Arizona forwards Dylan Anderson and Henri Veesaar are out. Duke’s Mark Mitchell is questionable after missing the season opener.
Duke is second in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and third in the coaches poll with the Blue Devils receiving 14 first-place votes.
Arizona is 11th in the coaches poll and 12th in the Associated Press poll.
Duke (+1100) is second only to Kansas in the odds of winning the national champion with Arizona tied for seventh at +2000 in the championship odds.
Arizona vs Duke 
Day/Time:
Location: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, N.C.
Streaming: ESPN2
Line: Duke -5.5 | Total: 154
All Hands on Deck
The Arizona Wildcats scored 122 points in a season-opening win over Morgan State despite having no player scoring at least 20 points. Keep that in mind when looking ahead to the Arizona vs Duke basketball game.
Sophomore Kylan Boswell, who played just 15.2 minutes per game as a freshman, led eight Wildcats who scored in double figures with 18 points.
San Diego State transfer Keshad Johnson is joined by a player Duke fans know pretty well as former North Carolina guard Caleb Love is returning to Cameron Indoor Stadium. He had 12 points and four assists in his last game at Duke.
Arizona has covered in four of its last five games.
Filipowski is Back to Lead the Blue Devils
Once freshman phenom Kyle Filipowski made the decision to return to Duke for his sophomore season, the Blue Devils became one of the teams to beat.
In the first game of his sophomore season, Filipowski had 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting. His presence is a factor in the preview for the Arizona vs Duke basketball game.
Senior guard Jeremy Roach added 14 points in the win over Dartmouth with freshman Caleb Foster adding 15 points off the bench.
The total has gone over in eight of Duke’s last 11 games played in November.
Last Meeting
Nick Johnson had 13 of his 15 points in the second half as Arizona topped Duke 72-66 in the championship game of the NIT Season-Tip Off tournament at Madison Square Garden. Arizona favored as a 3-point favorite with the game falling well under the 159.5-point total.
Freshman Aaron Gordon had 10 points for Arizona with Duke freshman Jabari Parker finishing with 19 points.
Arizona vs Duke Betting Preview
Duke takes a 17-game home winning streak into the game.
The total has gone over in the last five Arizona road games as well as in 10 of the last 15 games. Keep that in mind when looking at the NCAAB score predictions.
Arizona has won eight of the last nine games against ACC teams with Duke winning 13 of its last 17 games against teams from the Pac-12 conference.
The total is set at 154. Duke’s season opener against Dartmouth went over the total after the final three games of the 2022-23 season all finished under. It is the same deal with Arizona.
Arizona’s 122 points were the most of any Division I team in the season opener with Duke ranking third in a field-goal percentage of 64.4.
Duke is 37-37-1 against the spread in the last three seasons with the Blue Devils just 16-17-2 against the spread as the home favorite.
Arizona is 36-33-4 against the spread during that stretch. Arizona failed to cover in both games as a road underdog.
Arizona was seventh and Duke 13th in the final Sagarin Rankings of the 2022-23 season. Duke returns its top four scorers from last season with Arizona losing four of its top six scorers from the 2022-23 season and that alone is enough to make Duke the pick to win this huge matchup.
For NCAA news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
