Duke Blue Devils at St. Johns Red Storm 2011 NCAA Basketball Preview, Odds, and Predictions: Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski will lead his Duke Blue Devils on the road to Madison Square Garden to take on the Big East’s St. Johns Red Storm on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 PM ET on CBS Sports. St. Johns enters the game coming off a difficult run of this the 8th consecutive top 25 team they have faced at 11-8 11th in the Big East while the Blue Devils have won 4 in a row since their lone loss to Florida State and come in at 19-1 1st in the ACC and No. 3 Nationally.
As usual coach K is cautiously optimistic. “Sunday will be another test for us to go out of conference and it will be sold out – Madison Square Garden,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “St. John’s has an older team. They didn’t play well in their last game, but they’ll be ready to play us.” “Nolan’s playing, he’s had an All-American year,” Krzyzewski said. “I mean tonight, he was great. Plus he’s playing against good people.” The odds makers at JustBET have the Duke Blue Devils a -8 1/2 point favorite on the road against the St. Johns Red Storm.
The Duke Blue Devils most recent victory an 84-68 rout at home over the Boston College Eagles moving them to 9-9 ATS for the season. Guard Nolan Smith led the Blue Devils with 38 points 3 rebounds and 8 assists while Seth Curry chipped in 20 points 2 boards and 3 assists. Forwards Kyle Singler and Ryan Kelly each poured in 14 points as well to round out the starters in double digit scoring. Duke is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against St. John’s. Vegas odds makers have the Duke Blue Devils +280 to win the 2011 NCAA Championship.
The Red Storm is coming off a 77-52 loss at Georgetown to move to 7-11 ATS for the season. “You always continue to monitor every aspect of your team in terms of confidence,” St. John’s coach Steve Lavin said. “Whether it’s confidence, if you have success, then you worry about complacency. If you struggle, then you’re worried about their confidence. At this point, just based on the time I’ve been with them, they’ve been really good about the way they’ve come back.” The total has gone UNDER in 6 of St. John’s last 9 games when playing Duke. Vegas odds makers have the over/under for the total score at 143 points combined of the Duke Blue Devils at St. Johns Red Storm.
I predict a Duke win on the road!
Note: Rich Fritz is a Blog Writer on NSAwins.com and not a pro handicapper. For expert NFL Football Predictions against the Vegas spreads please visit the NSAwins.com homepage for top predictions today from the National Sports Advisors.