The Army Black Knights take on the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, NC. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
The Black Knights beat Albany 67-59 in their opening game, while the Blue Devils nearly dropped 100 in a victory over Maine.
In this particular matchup, the Blue Devils are favored by 31 points on the spread. The total is also set at 142.5 points. Here’s my Army vs. Duke predictions and college basketball picks for Friday.
Army vs Duke Prediction
My Pick: Duke 1H -15.5
My Army vs Duke best bet is for the Blue Devils to cover the 1H spread, with the best odds currently available at FanDuel. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Army vs Duke Odds
| Army Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+31 -110 | 142.5 -110o / -110u | OFF |
| Duke Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-31 -110 | 142.5 -110o / -110u | OFF |
- Army vs Duke spread: Duke -31
- Army vs Duke over/under: 142.5 points
- Army vs Duke best bet: Duke 1H -15.5
Spread
I'm targeting Duke on the first half-spread.
Moneyline
There's no value on the moneyline in this game.
Over/Under
I'm passing on the total.
My Pick: Duke 1H -15.5
Army vs Duke College Basketball Betting Preview
First, I'll start with this: Even though Army, according to the coaches' preseason poll, is projected to finish seventh in the Patriot League, its backcourt is solid.
Its two leading scorers last season — Josh Scovens and Ryan Curry — are one year older, and Jalen Rucker (who averaged over 16 points per game two season ago) is back after missing the 2023-24 campaign.
But that's not going to be nearly enough against Duke.
The Blue Devils are going to maul the smaller Black Knights in the paint and there's no one in this game who stands a chance at stopping Kon Knueppel and Cooper Flagg, the must-see TV sensation.
Most importantly, what's encouraging for this Blue Devils play is the fact that head coach Jon Scheyer seems intent on getting his best players plenty of minutes, even in the case of a blowout.
Freshmen Flagg and Knueppel played 30 and 31 minutes, respectively, against Maine, and even when the Blue Devils do go to their bench, they have depth and talent down to their 10th man.
The plethora of options Duke has at its disposal works in its favor, as does the fact that Army has just a single player taller than 6-foot-8.
Meanwhile, up front, Duke has 7-foot-2 raw freshman Khaman Maluach, defensive menace Maliq Brown and stretch forward Mason Gillis to go alongside the versatility of 6-foot-9 Flagg.
Since this is a lookahead game (Duke has Kentucky in the Champions Classic next week), I'm going to target the first-half spread as the Blue Devils should look to put this game in the bag as quickly as possible.
