MLB Best Bets – Free (Wednesday 5/15)
Josh Gross
The 2022-23 college basketball season is in midseason form, and we get some exciting matchups in the middle of conference play. Below is my favorite bet for Tuesday’s slate.
Duke vs. Notre Dame
(Line: Duke -13.5, DraftKings Sportsbook)
Notre Dame has been extremely disappointing this season, and it’s been hard to fathom how atrocious the defense has been as they rank 313th nationally in defensive efficiency per KenPom. The Irish have just been getting torched in the paint having absolutely no rim protection and allowing 53.3% 2pt FG%, which ranks 311th nationally.
They travel to Cameron Indoor here against a young Duke team that will be down its best interior player with an ankle injury, Kyle Filipowksi. The blue-chip freshman would be a matchup nightmare for the Irish, yet without him in the lineup Notre Dame will see a lot of undersized ex-Northwestern center Ryan Young and foul prone Dereck Lively, which would be much more manageable. Duke’s guard play hasn’t been great this year behind inconsistent play from Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor and although Notre Dame is 2-12 in the ACC, their backcourt is full of veteran guards who can score the basketball. Notre Dame doesn’t turn the ball over (first nationally in turnover rate) and their experienced backcourt shouldn’t be rattled by the raucous crowd at Cameron Indoor. The Irish should have the firepower to compete offensively in this one and Filipowski out of the lineup is a huge blow to the massive advantage Duke would have had in this game. Too many points here and I’ll be siding with Mike Brey in this one.
The Pick
Notre Dame +13.5
