Tonight in Newark, New Jersey, the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils will take on the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2025 Elite Eight. This game will start at 8:49 p.m. ET. Duke beat Arizona 100-93 in the Sweet Sixteen while Alabama blew out BYU by 25 points.
This is the 10th all-time matchup between Duke and Alabama. Duke leads the series 8-1, with their most recent win coming in 2013. Here is my pick for Saturday’s Elite Eight matchup between the Blue Devils and the Crimson Tide.
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Duke vs. Alabama (8:49 p.m. ET)
This is an exciting matchup between two of the best offenses in the country. Duke and Alabama combined to score 223 points in the Sweet Sixteen. The Crimson Tide set a record with 25 made three-pointers against the Cougars. Mark Sears had 34 points and eight assists while making 10 threes. Aden Holloway off the bench provided a big impact, scoring 23 points with six three-pointers.
Cooper Flagg had one of his best games of the season against Arizona in the Sweet Sixteen. He finished with 30 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and three blocks while going 3-5 from deep. But it didn’t stop with him. Kon Knueppel scored 20 points, and Sion James added 16 points with elite defense. Duke shot it 60 percent from the field and 57.9 percent on three-pointers. It will be hard to stop the Blue Devils when they are that efficient.
Alabama averages 91.4 points per contest, the most in the country. Duke scores 83.6 points per game, which is ninth in college basketball. But the biggest advantage is on defense. Duke only allows opponents 62.5 points, while Alabama gives up over 80 per game. Something will have to give, and although Duke has the necessary players to stop Sears, it is still a difficult task. When Sears is playing like he did against BYU, there isn’t a better guard in the sport.
Duke is a -6.5 favorite in this contest on DraftKings Sportsbook. Two of Alabama’s last three losses were all by six or fewer points.
College Basketball Pick: Alabama +6.5
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