Duke Heads to MSG As the Favorite to Topple the Baylor Bears
When Looking at Baylor vs Duke Betting Preview, Blue Devils Slight Fave's
All-American Candidate Filipowski Returns to New York
Baylor and Duke will be squaring off for the first time since the 2010 NCAA tournament. Even though Baylor is ranked higher in the national polls, Duke is favored in the game according to the Baylor vs Duke betting preview.
Duke won the previous matchup 78-71 in the 2010 South Regional final with the Blue Devils favored by five points. The game went over the 137.5-point total. Duke would go on and win the national title. Guard Tyrese Proctor and center Christian Reeves are questionable for Duke.
The Las Vegas odds have Duke as the 1.5-point favorite against Baylor.
The Bears are looking to bounce back from an 88-64 loss to Michigan State in a game played at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit and one that made plenty of NCAAB news. Duke topped Charlotte by 24 points and won by 21 points to Hofstra after a loss to Georgia Tech.
Duke All-American candidate Kyle Filipowski grew up about 75 miles from Madison Square Garden while junior Jaylen Blakes hails from Somerset, New Jersey.
Baylor fell from 10th to sixth in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls with Duke staying at No. 19 in the Coaches poll and remaining 21st in the AP poll.
When looking at the odds of winning March Madness, Duke (+2000) is tied for 10th in the odds of winning the national title with Baylor is tied for 11th at +2500. When the season began, Duke (+1100) only trailed Kansas in the NCAAB championship odds with Baylor tied for 20th at +4000
Baylor vs Duke 
Day/Time:
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York
Stream: ESPN, ESPN+
A Pretty Solid First Impression
Baylor’s Ja’Kobe Walter has looked very much like the freshman that he is.
He opened the season with 28 points against Auburn. Walter added 24 points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals versus Oregon State. When looking at the Baylor vs Duke betting preview, he is looking for another effort like that.
He is coming off a tough outing in a loss to Michigan State as he had nine points on 3 of 9 shooting in 33 minutes in the 24-point loss. The first two games this NCAAB season when Walter was held under 10 points, he bounced back with 14 and 10 points.
Six of Baylor’s games have landed over the total.
Lofty Expectations for Filipowski
After an outstanding freshman season, big things were expected from Duke 7-footer Kyle Filipowski.
With three double-doubles and five 20-point games, he has been brilliant at times. He has also had some moments when more was expected. Keep that in mind when it comes to the Baylor vs Duke betting preview.
Even in his 28-point effort against an overmatched Hofstra team, Filipowski had seven turnovers.
Getting just nine field-goal attempts in a loss to Georgia Tech was a little concerning.
It is not all bad news as Filipowski had 25 points and eight rebounds in a loss to an Arizona team that would ascend to the No. 1 spot in the national rankings. His decision to return to Duke after an impressive freshman season is one of the reasons why the Blue Devils are listed among the NCAA basketball favorites.
Duke is 5-5 against the spread this season.
Last Meeting
Duke had its first single-digit game in the South Region behind 29 points from Nolan Smith to return to the Final Four for the first time in six years. Current Duke coach Jon Scheyer was 5-of-10 from 3-point range and had 20 points.
Baylor vs Duke Betting Preview
Keep an eye on the status of Proctor, one of four double-digit scorers for Duke and the team leader with 36 assists despite missing two games.
Duke is 15-5 in its last 20 games against Big 12 teams while the total has gone over in each of Baylor’s last five games against ACC teams.
Duke is 7-3 outright when listed as the favorite while Baylor has won its only game as an underdog.
Duke has been favored in every game this season and has covered in five of those 10 games. Baylor, 6-2-1 against the spread this season, covered in the only matchup as the underdog.
The total has gone over in eight of the last 11 games played by Baylor. The total is currently at 157.5 in this matchup. It is tied for the second-highest total this season for Baylor and the highest total yet this season for Duke
Duke is 40-18 when playing at Madison Square Garden and has won seven of its last eight games at the world’s most famous arena.
Baylor has won 18 of the last 20 games played in December.
Baylor averages nearly seven more points per game than Duke and is shooting 51.7% as a team with more rebounds, steals, and blocked shots. Duke already has five college basketball players with at least 10 3-pointers led by freshman Jared McCain’s 17. Proctor, Filipowski, and Jeremy Roach have combined for 109 assists and only 36 turnovers.
It seems unlikely that Baylor will play as poorly as the Bears did against Michigan. However, beating Duke in Madison Square Garden is no easy feat so go with the Blue Devils to win outright and cover as well.
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