Winning vibes: Duke basketball versus Miami prediction
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Thursday's 96-69 victory over Pitt extended the Duke basketball win streak to seven games, setting the stage for an ACC Tournament semifinal bout against Miami at 7 p.m. ET Friday (ESPN2) in Greensboro. The winner will play for the title at 8:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPN) against Friday's nightcap winner between Clemson and Virginia.
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With Selection Sunday only two days away, the Duke Blue Devils and Miami Hurricanes are projected as No. 5 seeds in ESPN's updated Bracketology for the NCAA Tournament. Both stocks are on the rise.
The ACC Tournament's top-seeded Hurricanes (25-6, 15-5 ACC) have lost only once across their past 10 outings. As for the No. 4 seed Blue Devils (24-8, 14-6 ACC), in addition to their season-best win streak, they're fresh off tallying season-high marks in points, assists (27, an ACC Tournament record), and field goal percentage (62.1).
Whichever team prevails will likely be the favorite to cut down the nets on Saturday night.
Although Duke and Miami split their two regular-season meetings, the Hurricanes outscored the Blue Devils 147-127 altogether by recording an 81-59 blowout at home in their most recent clash. But that loss led to a players-only meeting in Durham. And that meeting seems to have catalyzed the impressive late-season growth.
So who has the advantage in the momentum department on Friday?
Duke. Not only are the young Blue Devils firing on all cylinders under first-year head coach Jon Scheyer, but they're doing so with an air of confidence that resembles more-seasoned Duke basketball squads from yesteryear. Their celebrations following big-time plays — countless instances of those lately — have been increasingly mild.
In other words, the unselfish bunch is acting like it's been there before.
And they're protecting the ball better, a key to preventing Miami from excelling in transition. Consider that Duke committed 21 turnovers in its loss at Miami; compare that to only 10 in the win in Durham a few weeks earlier.
Whether enjoying a lopsided win like last time out or grinding out a victory in a tightly contested battle (7-2 in games decided by five points or less this season), these Blue Devils look cool, calm, and collected, a testament to their buy-in and Scheyer's brilliance.
Prediction: Duke 72, Miami 66
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