Incarnate Word vs Duke Prediction College Basketball Picks 12/10/24

The Incarnate Word Cardinals and the Duke Blue Devils meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Cameron Indoor Stadium. Here’s an Incarnate Word vs Duke prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Incarnate Word vs Duke pick. We will examine:

The Incarnate Word Cardinals’ recent form and player performance

The Duke Blue Devils’ recent form and player performance

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Incarnate Word Cardinals

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Duke Blue Devils

Recent betting trends in games played between Incarnate Word and Duke

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Incarnate Word vs Duke game

Incarnate Word Cardinals Betting Preview

The Cardinals beat Southwestern TX, Prairie View, and AR-Pine Bluff in their first four games, then lost three of four to Northern Arizona, South Alabama, and Northwestern State. Game nine was another win though, this time over East Texas A&M.

In the East Texas A&M matchup on Saturday, the Cardinals held a 14-point lead in the locker room. Incarnate Word slowed in the second but still won easily 65-53. Tops in scoring was Davion Bailey with 19 points and four steals.

Duke Blue Devils Betting Preview

Over on the Duke side, they got off to a nice 4-1 start this year with wins over Maine, Army, Wofford, and Arizona alongside a lone loss to Kentucky. After another loss to Kansas, the Devils beat Seattle U and Auburn in the next pair.

Last Wednesday in the Auburn game, the Blue Devils held a 43-36 advantage by halftime. Duke scored 41 more points from there to power out an 84-78 upset win. Cooper Flagg was tops on a double-double with 22 points and 11 boards. 

Why the Duke Blue Devils will win

• Duke has won each of its last 10 games at Cameron Indoor Stadium against non-AP-ranked opponents.
• Incarnate Word has lost eight of its last nine night games.
• Incarnate Word has lost the first half in 23 of its last 29 road night games against non-conference opponents.

Incarnate Word vs Duke Prediction

I’ll stay with Duke—so long as they can avoid the proverbial “big-win hangover.” The Blue Devils played great in their upset of Auburn, hitting a nice 50 percent from the field with 34 rebounds and 11 team assists. The free-throw shooting (17-of-27 for 63 percent) was just about the only significant blemish in a nice performance at home. Duke now has a nice 69 or more points in all eight games so far.

As for Incarnate Word, they didn’t have a ton of issues versus a struggling East Texas A&M team in their last outing but did cough up 17 turnovers for 19 Lions points. Scoring is going to be at a premium for the Cardinals in Tuesday’s matchup, and considering they haven’t broken 65 points in two of the last three I’m not jazzed about Incarnate Word’s cover chances. All of that said, I’ll probably avoid this game due to the thick line. 

Andrew Jett's Pick: Duke Blue Devils -34