The No. 11 NC State Wolfpack will take on the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils in the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Sunday. This South Regional final will take place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas with tipoff set for 5:05 p.m. ET on CBS.
NC State is seeking its first trip to the Final Four since its legendary national championship run in 1983. Meanwhile, Duke is looking for its second Final Four appearance in three seasons and the first trip under head coach Jon Scheyer. These Tobacco Road rivals split both of their games this season, with NC State most recently knocking Duke out of the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
2024 March Madness picks
No. 11 NC State vs. No. 4 Duke best bet
NC State (25-14) extended its improbable run through March on Friday, upsetting No. 2 Marquette 67-58 to reach its first Elite Eight since 1986. The Wolfpack were firing on all cylinders right out the gate and managed to maintain their lead throughout the night by holding the Golden Eagles to just 33.3% shooting. D.J. Horne led State with 19 points while Mohamed Diarra provided a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds.
State’s run through the tournament can be attributed to multiple factors. Defensively, the Wolfpack have held all three of their opponents to under 39% shooting and that has opened the door for them to maintain comfortable leads in the second half. Another factor is their dominance in the middle as they’ve outscored NCAA Tournament opponents 106-74 in the paint. D.J. Burns and the aforementioned Diarra have been such vital pieces for the Pack inside and they’ll need to maintain when banging up against Duke’s Kyle Filipowski in the middle.
Duke (27-8) survived a tough, low-scoring battle against No. 1 Houston on Friday, advancing to the Elite Eight with a 54-51 victory. Both teams shot just 40.8% from the field in this showdown and it was the Blue Devils that managed to gut it out despite being held scoreless in the final 1:16 of action. Kyle Filipowski put up 16 points and nine rebounds in the win.
The Blue Devils have passed their first three tests in the NCAA Tournament and they have been able to capitalize of a few advantages they’ve had in different areas. They’ve gotten to the charity stripe often and have managed to double their opponents in free throw attempts 64-32. They’ve also crashed the boards hard and have out-rebounded their tourney foes 109-88. Filipowski has been a presence down low but they’ll need the guard trio of Jeremy Roach, Tyrese Proctor, and Jared McClain to continue knocking down mid-range jumpers and threes in order to topple State.
Betting lines
Sunday odds
Spread: Duke -7
Total: 143
Moneyline: Duke -305, NC State +245
Opening odds
Spread: Duke -6
Total: 143
Moneyline: Duke -265, NC State +215
All odds are courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Best bet: NC State +7
Sometimes vibes are a good indicator for how a game will go and the vibes are immaculate with NC State right now. This team has been on an absolute tear for nearly three weeks straight and it will not be intimidated by a Duke team that it had to beat to make keep its NCAA Tournament dreams alive. I’ll take the Wolfpack to at least cover as we should good a good ol’ Tobacco Road brawl in Dallas.
