Blue Devils take on Terps in Durham

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/11/2012 - Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off their biggest win of the season, the 10th-ranked Duke Blue Devils return to Cameron Indoor Stadium, as they play host to the Maryland Terrapins in ACC action this afternoon.

Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils recorded a thrilling 85-84 win in Chapel Hill over arch rival North Carolina on Wednesday and in the process created a three-way tie atop the ACC standings with UNC and Florida State at 7-2. Usually a safe haven, Duke has dropped two of its last three games in Durham.

Mark Turgeon's first season in College Park has certainly produced its share of ups and downs. The Terrapins are five games over .500 overall at 14-9, but just 4-5 in conference play. Maryland has dropped five of its last seven games but does enter this contest off a 64-62 road win at Clemson.

Duke owns a 111-61 series advantage overall and has won the last four meetings. In addition, the Blue Devils have won four straight in Durham, with Maryland's last win at Duke coming in 2007.

The Terrapins lack a great deal of scoring punch at a meager 69.1 ppg this season, but ironically boast of the ACC's top scoring threat in guard Terrell Stoglin, who is averaging 22.0 ppg. Stoglin, who has a team-high 63 three- pointers to his credit, has scored in double figures in 22 of the 23 games this season, including reaching the 20-point mark 17 times. His backcourt mate Sean Mosley is a distant second in the scoring column at 10.4 ppg. James Padgett (9.0 ppg. 5.8 rpg) is the top option in the frontcourt.

The Terps led by 14 points with just under eight minutes left, but needed to hold off Clemson to earn a two-point win. Stoglin was once again unstoppable, netting a game-high 27 points. The Terps shot a impressive .489 from the floor, the second-best mark in ACC play this year. Mosley once again played Robin to Stoglin's Batman, finishing with 16 points.

Freshman Austin Rivers drilled a three-pointer and ended North Carolina's 31- game homecourt winning streak, shocking the Chapel Hill faithful in attendance. Rivers was certainly not intimidated in his first Duke/North Carolina clash, hitting six three-pointers and finishing with a game-high 29 points. Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry added 15 points apiece, while Mason Plumlee finished with eight points and 14 rebounds.

The Blue Devils bring a balanced offensive attack into their games, averaging a steady 80.0 ppg, on .480 shooting. The scoring is spread out with four players currently in double figures, led by Rivers' 15.1 ppg. Curry and Kelly provide perimeter depth and are tied for second at 12.7 ppg each. Mason Plumlee is the resident muscle in the paint at 11.5 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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