No. 5 Duke vs. No. 12 Oral Roberts preview for March Madness First Round matchup

The NCAA Tournament begins on Tuesday, March 14th with the First Four, and then moves on to the First Round on Thursday, March 16 and Friday, March 17. The No. 5 seed Duke Blue Devils will face the No. 12 seed Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.

Here’s an early look at what we can expect from the matchup.

Once odds from DraftKings Sportsbook are made available for this game, we’ll add that information below. We’ll also add the game time and TV channel once it’s settled.

Game date: Thursday, March 16
Game time: 7:10 p.m. ET
TV channel: CBS
Location: Orlando, Florida

Odds: Duke -7

No. 5 Duke

Duke hasn’t exactly been Duke this season, but this squad is clicking at the right time. They closed out the regular season on a nine-game winning streak, including a massive 62-57 road win over hated rival North Carolina. Even better news for their postseason hopes is that their defense has become a strong suit. They wrapped up their season with an ACC tournament title after beating Virginia in the championship game.

Still the Blue Devils are not nearly as deep as last year’s team, and don’t have star power that comes anywhere close to 2021-22’s Paolo Banchero and company. Center Kyle Filipowski and guard Jeremy Roach will each have to shine in March for Duke to make it back to the Final Four. That is certainly possible, but this blue blood’s margin for error is a whole lot smaller than it was a year ago.

Record: 26-8, 14-6 ACC
Coach: Jon Scheyer
Qualifier: Automatic
KenPom overall: 21
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 42
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 24
Pace: 288
PPP overall: 1.078
Leading scorer: Kyle Filipowski
NET: 16
Quad 1 record: 5-6
Against The Spread: 15-19-0
Over Total: 13-20-1

No. 12 Oral Roberts

Oral Roberts just had arguably their most impressive men’s basketball season in school history. Totalling a staggering 30 wins on the year, the Golden Eagles tore through the Summit League with an undefeated 18-0 record. The conference’s best player, G Max Abmas, guided Oral Roberts behind his whopping 22.2 PPG. Those are dominant figures indeed, but how will ORU fare against strengthened competition at the Big Dance?

Record: 26-4, 18-0 Summit League
Coach: Paul Mills
Qualifier: Automatic
KenPom overall: 56
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 23
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 106
Pace: 38
PPP overall: 1.143
Leading scorer: Max Abmas
NET: 36
Quad 1 record: 0-4
Against The Spread: 13-16-1
Over Total: 13-17