Duke vs Louisville Odds, Lines, and Spread
- Louisville is a 1.5-point favorite at home against Duke on Saturday in an ACC game at the KFC Yum! Center
- Both teams have lost their last two games and have fallen out of the national rankings
- Odds, lines and the spread for the matchup can be found below with analysis
Two teams looking to get back on track and avoid falling further in the ACC standings square off when Duke visits Louisville at 4 pm EST Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center.
Duke (5-4, 3-2 ACC) and Louisville (9-3, 4-2 ACC) have both lost two games in a row. They also fell out of the national rankings this week.
The Blue Devils have also lost four straight games against the spread and are slight underdogs in this game.
Duke vs Louisville Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Spread | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duke Blue Devils | +108 | +1.5 (-106) | Over 141.5 (-106) |
| Louisville Cardinals | -126 | -1.5 (-114) | Under 141.5 (-114) |
Odds taken Jan. 22nd at FanDuel
Big Game for Johnson
Duke lost at Pittsburgh 79-73 on Tuesday night as a 4.5-point favorite despite an outstanding performance by freshman forward Jalen Johnson.
Johnson had a career-high 24 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out with 2:15 remaining. It was his second game back since missing three games with a foot injury.
Despite the loss, freshman Jalen Johnson was SPECIAL tonight 👀
24 PTS | 16 REB | 7 AST | 3 BLK | 2 STL
Only the 6th game of his college career 🗣 @Jalen_J23 (via @accmbb)pic.twitter.com/wVniQLCUmU
— Overtime (@overtime) January 20, 2021
Johnson is having a solid debut season with averages of 12.0 points and 8.0 rebounds a game.
Sophomore guard Wendall Moore Jr. added 15 points. Sophomore Matthew Hurt finished with 13 and freshman guard Jeremy Roach chipped in with 11.
Hurt has been the one constant in a lineup that has continually changed because of injuries and inconsistent play. Hurt is the only player to start all nine games.
Hurt is averaging 18.9 points and 8.2 points a game. Both are team-leading figures.
Matthew Hurt does a terrific job on defense on this possession. Finishes it with the block. pic.twitter.com/wOrLXm7smC
— BlueDevilStop (@BlueDevilStop) January 8, 2021
Like Johnson, guard DJ Steward has made big contributions as a freshman with 13.1 points and 1.3 steals a game. Roach, yet another freshman, has averages of 11.1 points and 3.2 assists. Senior guard Jordan Goldwire’s steal percentage is 4.8.
Home Not So Yummy
Home-floor advantage did not mean much to Louisville in its previous game, a 78-65 loss to Florida State on Monday as a 4-point favorite.
Louisville fell behind 22-7 and never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Senior guard Carlik Jones again led the Cardinals with 17 points. The graduate transfer from Radford is averaging 17.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists a game. Jones is the only player in the top-five in both scoring and assists in the ACC.
@carlikjones highlights vs Kentucky pic.twitter.com/UwLcsL31Ia
— Ohio Basketball Club (Business Owner, LLC) (@OBCMikeD12) January 20, 2021
Sophomore guard David Johnson had 15 points and eight rebounds and freshman forward Jae’Lyn Withers ended up with 14 points and nine rebounds.
However, beyond those three, the rest of the Cardinals scored just 19 points.
Johnson, like Jones, has been stuffing the stat sheet as he is averaging 13.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists. Withers has averages of 10.5 points and 7.3 rebounds along with a 64.0 effective shooting percentage and a 65.8 true shooting percentage.
Jae'Lyn Withers.. what a dunk! (Florida state however handling business) @djtalz1 Great comeback by the Johnny’s earlier today vs UConn as well pic.twitter.com/OqwzSmvMWg
— 倅ofAzuma (@BreakBreadDaily) January 19, 2021
Fairly Even Series
Duke is 5-3 against Louisville since the Cardinals joined the ACC for the 2013-14 season. However, the last two games have been quite notable.
Last season, Louisville went to Cameron Indoor Stadium and notched a 79-73 upset as an 8-point underdog, Johnson shined for the Cardinals with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Duke got 16 points from Hurt.
It was sweet revenge for the Cardinals as, during the 2018-19 season at Louisville, Duke rallied from 23 points down with 9 and a half minutes left to win 71-69.
The way both teams are playing, this meeting doesn’t set up to be quite so thrilling. However, it does look like an even matchup and we’ll lean toward Louisville, which should play better at home this time.
Pick: Louisville -1.5 (-114)
John Perrotto has been covering and writing about sports for various outlets for over 40 years. His work has appeared in the likes of USA TODAY, ESPN.com, SI.com, Forbes.com, The Associated Press, Baseball Digest, and more. John is based out of Beaver Falls, PA.
