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The No. 5 seed Duke Blue Devils (26-8, 14-6 ACC) will take on the No. 12 Oral Roberts Golden Eagles (30-4, 18-0 Summit) in the first round Thursday night. The game will get started at 7:10 p.m. ET from Orlando, Florida, and can be seen on CBS.
Let’s take a look at the odds and lines on DraftKings Sportsbook and make some picks.
No. 5 Duke vs. No. 12 Oral Roberts picks
Spread: Duke -6.5
Over/Under: 145
Moneyline: Duke -260, Oral Roberts +220
Duke finished in a tie for third in the ACC standings and won the conference tournament in the first season in the post-Coach K era with a nine-game winning streak. Oral Roberts will enter the NCAA Tournament on a 17-game winning streak after rolling through the Summit League regular season and tournament unbeaten.
It might be a trendy pick to take the 30-win team to pull off the 12-5 upset, but Oral Roberts will be in trouble on the defensive end. The Golden Eagles rate 106th in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency and while they can score at a high level, getting consistent stops will become an issue on Thursday night.
Pick: Duke -6.5