Texas Tech vs. Duke Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
Will Thursday be the final game as Duke coach for Mike Krzyzewski?
The Red Raiders are -1 on the college basketball odds.
Texas Tech vs. Duke: Sweet 16 Point Spread and Betting
The winner of this West Region matchup between No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 2 Duke will face either No. 4 Arkansas or No. 1 Gonzaga in the Elite Eight also from San Francisco on Saturday. The Zags would be favoured against both even though they lost to Duke in the regular season.
Duke’s next loss will be the final game in the Hall of Fame career of Coach Mike Krzyzewski. It also presumably will be the final NCAA game of star freshman Paolo Banchero, who could be the top pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. To win the West, the Blue Devils are +400 and the Red Raiders +425.
These schools last played in December 2018 (their only meeting) and Duke won 69-58 at a neutral site. The Blue Devils haven’t played a Big 12 team this season. Texas Tech just played an ACC school in Notre Dame and beat the Irish (see below). Duke was 1-0 vs. the Irish this season.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Texas Tech (27-9) lost mega-successful coach Chris Beard to his alma mater Texas in the off-season but hasn’t missed a beat under his former assistant Mark Adams, who has been named a finalist for the 2022 Naismith Men’s Coach of the Year Award. He was already named Big 12 Coach of the Year. This program is predicated on defence, and that was on display Sunday in a 59-53 win over No. 11 Notre Dame. TTU shot just 35.6 per cent – it can struggle on offence – but the Irish 32.7 per cent. Tech is holding foes to only 60.2 points per game this season, 38.2 per cent shooting and forcing 15.9 turnovers per game.
Kevin Obanor led the Red Raiders vs. Notre Dame by recording a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds, while Bryson Williams and Kevin McCullar both scored 14 points. Obanor has now recorded a double-double in five straight NCAA Tournament games after two this year and three last year with Oral Roberts. It’s the third time in the past four NCAA Tournaments that Texas Tech is in the Sweet 16. The Red Raiders are 2-6 ATS in their past eight games.
Duke Blue Devils
Coach Mike Krzyzewski won his final Hall of Fame matchup with Michigan State coach Tom Izzo on Sunday, 85-76 – although that score is very misleading as the Spartans led by five points with about five minutes left. Star freshman Paolo Banchero scored 19 points and had the go-ahead basket with 2:05 left. Banchero became just the fourth Duke player with back-to-back NCAA Tournament games with at least 15 points, five rebounds and four assists, joining Danny Ferry (1987 and 1988), Grant Hill (1994) and Jon Scheyer (2010) – Scheyer will be taking over as coach next season.
It was the 1,200th win of Krzyzewski’s career (99th in the Big Dance), and Duke (30-6) is in the Sweet 16 for the 26th time under Coach K. The Blue Devils are 15-3 overall this season in road and neutral-site games. There is one injury to note and that’s to freshman AJ Griffin. He suffered a lower leg injury with eight minutes to play Sunday and didn’t return. It’s not clear yet if he will play Thursday. Griffin averages 10.3 points and 3.8 rebounds. Duke is 1-5 ATS in its past six games.
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