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Sometimes you want to make a quick pitstop, empty the bladder, grab a bag of salty snacks and limber up the limbs before hitting the open road again. For the fast-minded who enjoy simple $2 scratchers hoping to uncover the jackpot-winning image, here are quick thoughts and the lean on Auburn-Duke.
No. 2 Auburn (7-0) at No. 9 Duke (5-2)
Date: Wednesday, December 4
Time: 9:15 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
The pick — SGP: Auburn +8.5, Game OVER 139.5 (+100, BetMGM)
The calendar may have just flipped to December, but it is indisputable Auburn is the nation’s best team … so far.
On the Scoville scale, that’s a hot take equivalent to your industry standard bell pepper. Anyone who has casually paid attention to college basketball during the season’s first month knows Bruce Pearl has quite the squad.
During an absolute bonkers Feast Week, the Tigers fended off the upset bug while in Maui. In the generally upside-down three-day event that fraidy cat Danny Hurley won’t play again — he’s presumably dismissive of the Invitational after finishing dead last despite entering the MTE as the chalk favorite — Johni Broome and his boys impressively handled North Carolina, Iowa State and Memphis to take the tournament crown.
Auburn hasn’t played since it returned to the mainland, but it’s now atop the computer ranks, slotting at No. 1 adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 7 in adjusted defensive efficiency on KenPom. Fly high, War Eagle.
Duke’s two defeats occurred in staunchly contested neutral-court throwdowns against Kentucky (77-72) and Kansas (75-72). The Blue Devils, led by social media viral sensation Cooper Flagg, are uber talented, extraordinarily long (No. 1 in effective height) and across-the-board balanced. They shoot 56.1% from 2-point range and 36.1% from 3, and they are No. 5 in effective field-goal percentage defense.
This mammoth matchup at historic Cameron Indoor Stadium boils down to two distinct factors. 1) Who executes best along the arc? 2) Which squad crashes the glass strongest?
Over 41% of Duke buckets have come on long-distance jacks. Auburn’s Denver Jones (34.5 3PT%), Chad Baker-Mazara (44.8%), Tahaad Pettiford (38.7%) and Miles Kelly (41.0%) can certainly match or exceed successful triples launched by Kon Knueppel (36.4%), Tyrese Proctor (46.9%), Caleb Foster (30.8%) and Sion James (38.5%), but they can’t be completely overwhelmed.
As for the Blue Devils, the Tigers’ speed to the bucket and around-the-rim efficiency must be mitigated. No team in the nation shoots a higher percentage from 2 than the Tigers (65.7%). Flagg must rack rim denials and avoid whistles.
A jam-packed Cameron will be full-throated from beginning to end. However, Jon Scheyer’s club, one of the youngest high-major programs around, is in an uphill battle against its deeper, more experienced and more effective all-around opponent.
Bodda getta, Auburn.
Season record: 7-5, +2.09 units
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