Duke, UCLA Clash At The Garden
Jabari Parker and the Duke Blue Devils will look to had UCLA another defeat.
The historic surroundings of Madison Square Garden will be the backdrop for the first meeting between Duke and UCLA in over a decade.
Tip-off at the World’s Most Famous Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
The two storied schools will take to the hardwood looking to improve on less than stellar performances in their last outings.
No. 8 Duke (8-2) defeated Gardner Webb 85-66 on Monday but looked suspect on defense in the process. UCLA – which dropped out of the AP rankings thanks to a loss to Missouri on December 7 – defeated Prairie View A&M 95-71 on Saturday, but didn’t look as convincing as first-year head coach Steve Alford would have liked.
Thursday night’s showdown in the Big Apple will give both sides the chance to make amends and shine in front of a national television audience.
Duke has fared well early this season. Freshman Jabari Parker is living up to the hype, averaging 22.0 points per game, yet still looks as though he may be holding something back. His unselfishness comes as a surprise, albeit a pleasant surprise.
Sophomore Rodney Hood is emerging as a second scoring threat, averaging 18.9 points per game, while Quinn Cook – averaging 14.7 points and 6.6 assists per game – is one veteran player that is helping to glue all the new components in place.
Perhaps the biggest downside for the Blue Devils so far this season is the lack of impact from Rasheed Sulaimon, who is averaging just 6.3 points and 2.2 rebounds per game while shooting 35 percent from the field. The sophomore guard, who averaged 11.6 points a season ago, is currently playing limited minutes for Mike Krzyzewski.
Duke’s two losses this season came against ranked opposition, losing to then-No. 5 Kansas in Chicago on November 12, and to then-No. 4, now-No.1 Arizona at Madison Square Garden on November 29.
While the Blue Devils are looking to battle with the other elite programs around the nation, UCLA (9-1) is looking to once again become relevant in the national title conversation.
The Bruins have begun the season strong, thanks in part to a soft schedule. Thursday’s game against Duke will be the first time this season that the school has played a team ranked in the AP Top 25.
A loss on the road at Missouri suggests the Bruins aren’t as good as their 9-1 record suggests, but a win over the Blue Devils would surely propel the school back into the rankings, as well as serve notice to the Pac-12 and college basketball as a whole.
Alford spoke this week about his decision to take the UCLA job and the difficulties he expects trying to turn the school’s basketball program around. If he’s to be successful this season, much pressure will fall on the shoulders of Jordan Adams and Kyle Anderson.
Adams leads the team with 21.2 points per game, almost a six-point improvement on his freshman season. The guard is shooting an impressive 53 percent from the field. Anderson, a New Jersey native who will be returning ‘home’ on Thursday, is averaging 13.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, leading the team in the latter.
The Bruins have a pair of other players – Zach LaVine (13.8ppg) and Norman Powell (12.2ppg) – averaging in double figures, while the team as a whole is averaging 89.1 points per game, third in the nation behind only Iowa State (90.9) and Oregon (89.3). the Bruins are also shooting .543, second only to Oregon State (.549).
With Duke ranked in the top 16 in both points scored (86.0) and field goal percentage (.517), the Garden could be about to witness a shootout.
UCLA Bruins vs. Duke Blue Devils odds for 12/19/2013
Not all of the Vegas lines are in yet but Duke will be the favorite when the two sides take to the court.
The schools last met on November 30, 2002, in the Wooden Traditional in Indianapolis. Duke, ranked No. 6 at the time, got the better of UCLA, then ranked No. 14, defeating the Bruins 84-73 in front of John Wooden himself. That marked the first time since 1961 that the Bruins had begun the year 0-2.
The Blue Devils are 7-1 against UCLA under Krzyzewski and 7-2 since 1979. The Bruins would love to be able to turn that trend around at the Garden.
The spread opened at 2 but most sportsbooks currently have it at 4.
UCLA (6-3-0 ATS) has fared better against the spread that Duke (5-5-0 ATS) so far this season. The Blue Devils have covered just twice in the last six games while the Bruins have covered four times in their last five applicable games.
The over/under has yet to be released but neither side has shown any fondness for either over or under so far this season.
The Bruins will look to buck modern history with a win over Duke on Thursday.
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