The Duke Blue Devils have held the upper hand over their most bitter rival in recent seasons with a 6-2 straight-up and 5-2-1 against-the-spread record in their last eight games against the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Blue Devils hope to continue that success in 2018 with a road win over the Tar Heels on Thursday night.
Duke vs. North Carolina 2018 odds: Blue Devils road favorites at Tar Heels for Thursday
The Duke Blue Devils visit the North Carolina Tar Heels for another chapter in this heated rivalry, and they get the small nod at the sportsbooks for the contest.
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Duke is a 1-point road favorite in Chapel Hill at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. In their last four road games against North Carolina, the Blue Devils are 3-1 SU and 3-0-1 ATS.
Duke Blue Devils at North Carolina Tar Heels
When: Thursday, Feb. 8, 8 p.m. ET
Where: Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Betting Line / Total: Duke -1 / 169 Points
Duke Blue Devils
In a season that has seen very few teams in the nation separate from the pack to look elite, Duke’s 18-2 SU and 12-6 ATS record through its first 20 games was among the more impressive resumes in the nation. But over the Blue Devils’ last three games, Duke is 1-2 SU and ATS after losing as a 3.5-point favorite at home to Virginia and as a 10.5-point road favorite at St. John’s.
The Blue Devils have slipped from No. 4 in the AP Top 25 down to No. 9 due to these two losses and will try to start their climb back up with a win over North Carolina.
The Blue Devils are the highest-scoring team in the nation at 89.6 points per game, gearing their games heavily toward the OVER at 15-6 this season per the OddsShark College Basketball Database.
North Carolina Tar Heels
North Carolina narrowly held on to its spot in the AP Top 25 at No. 21 thanks to a 96-65 blowout win over the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday.
The Tar Heels went 0-3 SU and ATS in the three prior games to that win with the biggest stumble coming as a 12.5-point favorite at home against NC State. The team allowed 85.7 points per game over that losing streak and now enters Thursday’s game with a 17-7 SU and 12-10-1 ATS record.
Thursday’s total is set at 169 points. The OVER is 6-2 in the last eight games between Duke and North Carolina.
With both teams entering this game playing at less than 100 percent, things could get even more chippy than usual. Duke shouldn’t have trouble scoring on this Tar Heels defense, so how close this game ends up being will likely come down to how well North Carolina executes on offense.
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