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Arizona vs Duke Prediction 3/27/25 College Basketball Picks
Pick details
Duke (33-3) vs Arizona (24-12)
March 27, 2025 at 09:39 PM EDT
The Line: Betting Odds: Duke -9 — Over/Under: 153.5
The Arizona Wildcats and the Duke Blue Devils meet Thursday in NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 college basketball action from Prudential Center. Here’s an Arizona vs Duke prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Arizona vs Duke pick. We will examine:
The Arizona Wildcats recent form and player performance
The Duke Blue Devils recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Arizona Wildcats
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Duke Blue Devils
Recent betting trends in games played between Arizona and Duke
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Arizona vs Duke game
Arizona Wildcats Betting Preview
Arizona had a couple of stumbles during the regular season, but they’ve done well in national tournament action so far. The Wildcats opened on a spotty 4-5 run, then managed wins in 13 of their next 14 games. The Wildcats closed out the year on a rough 3-5 stretch though, before beating Kansas and Texas Tech in the conference tourney. After falling to Houston, the Wildcats have since taken wins over Akron and Oregon to move to 24-12 overall on the year.
In their Sunday matchup versus Oregon, the Wildcats opened the game with a 42-38 advantage. Arizona kept the pace from there on a 45-45 run and took the win in the end 87-83. Leading the team in scoring during the victory was Caleb Love with 29 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Tobe Awaka doubled up on 12 points with 14 rebounds, while KJ Lewis put up 12 points with six rebounds in 31 minutes of work off the bench in the victory effort.
Duke Blue Devils Betting Preview
Over on the Duke side, they’ve been on a pretty great run this year. Two of their three defeats so far came in the first six games, courtesy of Kentucky and Kansas—each decided by five points or fewer. Duke would then hit a nice win streak from November 29 versus Seattle to February 5 against Syracuse. After a loss to Clemson, Duke took out Cal, Stanford, Virginia, Illinois, Miami, Florida State, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Louisville on the way to an ACC Tournament championship. Since then the Blue Devils have kept it going with wins over Mount St. Mary’s and Baylor for a 33-3 overall run.
Matched up against Baylor, the Blue Devils entered the second half with a 47-30 advantage. Duke hit a 42-36 run the rest of the way and cruised to the win 89-66. Tyrese Proctor led the charge on 25 points with two assists, while Cooper Flagg added 18 points with nine boards and six assists. Patrick Ngongba put up eight points with two rebounds and two blocks as well in his 16 minutes of work off the bench.
Why the Duke Blue Devils will win
- Duke has won 29 of its last 30 games.
Why the Arizona Wildcats will win
- Arizona has won 15 of its last 16 night games played at neutral venues.
Total Points Facts
- Each of Duke’s last eight games against AP-ranked opponents at a neutral venue have produced a total of 149 or fewer points.
- Each of Arizona’s last five night games at a neutral venue have produced a total of 161+ points.
Matchup/League Facts
- Duke ranks 1st among Division 1 teams for defensive rating this season (92.9).
- Duke ranks 1st among Division 1 teams for net rating this season (+33.5).
- Arizona ranks 16th among Division 1 teams for rebound percentage this season (55.1%).
- Arizona ranks 19th among Division 1 teams for free throw percentage this season (78.3%).
Arizona vs Duke Prediction
I’m staying with Duke. The Blue Devils are a force to be reckoned with these days, and they’re tearing right through the schedule. Duke dispatched a good Baylor team without too much difficulty in their last outing, hitting an excellent 64.4 percent from the field, 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from outside and 82.6 percent (19-of-23) from the line. The only real blemish was the 32-29 rebounding deficit (18-3 offensive), but a lot of that came in relative garbage time. That makes 73 or more points in 13 straight games (all wins) for Duke.
As for Arizona, they were able to power their way past a pesky Oregon squad thanks to 45.5 percent shooting and a 44-37 rebounding edge in their last outing. The Wildcats have posted 86 or more points in four of the last five games (all four were wins), so this one’s got the potential for a very high total. In the end I like Duke to fend off the Wildcats, though.
