Duke vs Miami Picks and Odds

• The Duke Blue Devils will visit Miami at 7 pm ET Monday after their most impressive victory of the season, a rout of Clemson on Saturday
• Injury-depleted Miami has scored fewer than 60 points in each of its last four games, all losses
• Check the odds, analysis and our betting prediction below

Duke (7-5, 5-3 ACC) led by as many as 35 points in a 79-53 home victory over Clemson on Saturday. It was the Blue Devils’ second straight win after dropping out of the AP Top-25 for the first time in almost five years following a loss at Louisville the week before.

Injury-depleted Miami (9-10, 2-9) had only six scholarship players available in a 66-54 loss to Wake Forest on Saturday, its fourth straight defeat. The Hurricanes have lost 10 of their last 13.

Duke vs Miami Odds

Odds from FanDuel on Jan. 31st.

Duke Makes Its Case For a Return to the Top-25

After sneaking past Georgia Tech early last week, the young Blue Devils put their balance and athleticism on display in an easy victory over Clemson on Saturday, concluding a week in which they were not in the Top-25 for the first time in five years.

Freshman Jalen Johnson had a highlight reel steal and dunk early in the Clemson game, and the Blue Devils had five players score between 11 and 13 points and another, Johnson, chipped in with nine points, eight rebounds and five assists. Duke had more 3-pointers (10) than turnovers (nine) .

Duke used its eighth different starting lineup of the season, and the re-insertion of veteran senior point guard Jordan Goldwire seemed to make a difference. Goldwire returned to the starting lineup after a two-game absence, replacing freshman Jeremy Roach, who had started the previous seven.

Floor leader Goldwire had four points, five assists, six rebounds and two steals, and Roach had 12 points including two threes off the bench. Goldwire, the ACC leader in assist/turnover ratio, did not have a turnover in 34 minutes. He has 30 assists against five turnovers over the last seven games.

Duke’s margin of victory was its largest of the season, and its 20 assists (on 28 field goals) tied a season-high.

Miami Has Struggled To Overcome Season-Long Injury Issues

The Hurricanes have had trouble compensating for the loss of three returning starters, including preseason all-ACC guard Chris Lykes and front-court players 7-footer Rodney Miller and Sam Waardenburg.

Lykes was the Hurricanes’ leading scorer last season, and the trio of Lykes, Miller and Waardenburg combined for 76 starts a year ago. Lykes has not played since scoring 20 points against Stetson on Dec. 4.

6-foot-7 freshman Matt Cross, who made nine starts and was averaging 6.9 points a game and 3.5 rebounds in 26 minutes per game, left the program last week,

Coach Jim Larranaga has used eight starting lineups this season, including a new one in each of the last three games. 6-foot-11 redshirt junior Deng Gak made his first start of the season against Wake Forest, when the Hurricanes also were without contributing reserves Earl Timberlake and Elijah Olaniyi because of shoulder injuries.

Guard Isaiah Wong, a 6-3 sophomore,  has taken up the scoring slack, averaging a team-high 17.6 points a game, but he left the Wake Forest game in the final three minutes with an apparent ankle injury. His status for the Duke game is unknown.

Coaches look for improvement. These individuals in the @accmbb have made very good strides. @awaytoworthy
1.Nate Laszewski
2.Justin Champagnie
3.David Johnson
4.Isaiah Wong
5.Matthew Hurt
6.Manny Bates
7.Quincy Guerrier
8.Armando Bacot
9.Balsa Koprivica
10.Jose Alvarado

— Paul Biancardi (@PaulBiancardi) January 25, 2021

The Numbers Game

Duke had failed to cover the spread in five straight game and nine of 10 before covering in its last two, against Georgia Tech and Clemson. The Blue Devils are 1-3 against the spread in ACC road games and are 0-3 since beating Notre Dame 75-65 as a 2-point favorite. They have been under the total in three of four league games.

KenPom ranks Duke 24th in adjusted efficiency margin, and the Blue Devils are one of 16 teams ranked in the top-40 in both adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency. They are one of three ACC teams in that group, joining Virginia and Florida State.

Balled out today v Clemson #DukeMBBTop5 😈☠️👀💥 pic.twitter.com/GVQISXOChD

— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) January 30, 2021

Short-handed Miami has been under in four in a row and six of its last eight. The Hurricanes are 3-2 at home against the spread in ACC games, 3-1 as a home underdog. They have scored under 25 points in the first half in each of their last four games.

The Hurricanes are the lowest-rated team in the ACC in adjusted efficiency margin, according to KenPom, which also ranks their non-conference strength of schedule 301st out of 357.

Pick: Duke -9.5 (-110)