Arizona vs. Duke Preview; Where to watch, prediction, best bet

On Friday, the 12th-ranked Arizona Wildcats travel to Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on the No. 2 ranked Duke Blue Devils in the premiere matchup of the college basketball season thus far.

UNC transfer Caleb Love and the Wildcats come into this game 5.5-point underdogs and over/under is extremely high at 155, meaning we could be in store for a barnburner from tip-to-buzzer. This PAC 12/ACC matchup is going to be full of fireworks.

Read below for a guide on everything you need to know heading into this huge matchup.

Where to watch

Arizona vs. Duke can be seen on ESPN 2 and the ESPN APP at 7 PM eastern time. Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas will be on the call from Cameron Indoor, with Angel Gray providing reports from the sildelines.

Duke Blue Devils team preview

After a few “down years”, Duke Basketball has returned. Jon Scheyer proved he knows how to recruit, and he now has the most talented team in the country in my opinion.

Sophomore center Kyle Filipowski and senior guard Jeremy Roach are slotted in as the leaders of this Blue Devils Team. Filipowski averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds as a freshmen, and already has a 25-point game this season. Jeremy Roach is the emotional leader for Duke, a role normally taken up by a white crybaby guard (cc Grayson Allen, JJ Redick, Jon Scheyer).

Roach also greatly improved his scoring output in his junior year, averaging 14 points after scoring just 8 per game over his first two seasons in Durham.

Although these two are great players, I love Duke this year because of the NBA talent coming to Tobacco Road. Five-star freshman guard Jared McCain was the consensus No. 1 high school player in California a season ago.

The man behind McCain on the depth chart, Caleb Foster, was a consensus top 20 high school player in the country and was second on the team in scoring against Dartmouth.

I didn’t even mention sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor yet. Proctor struggled a bit in his first season at Duke but has the talent to be an NBA Lottery pick if he can put it together.

Look for Proctor and McCain to carry the load tonight as a big Arizona team will hope to take away Filipowski as much as possible.

Arizona Wildcats team preview

The Arizona Wildcats may not be ranked high enough.

This team is going to be great all season long in a competitive PAC 12. It starts with UNC transfer Caleb Love. (Over under 6.5 times they mention loves Duke/UNC ties on the broadcast tonight?)

The senior averaged just under 17 points per game during his sophomore and junior seasons in the Carolina Blue. Love adds backcourt scoring to an Arizona team that desperately needed it last year after the departure of Benedict Mathurin.

Senior center Oumar Ballo is still out in the desert after a disappointing junior season. He pairs with San Diego State transfer Keshad Johnson up front to create a very solid inside threat.

Head coach Tommy Lloyd isn’t afraid to go deep into his bench, and we should see a lot of freshmen big men Moteijus Krivas and Paulius Murauskas in this game with an assumed fast pace.

This team is big, long, and can score. They offer a mix of experienced veterans with young talent that most programs don’t have in the age of the transfer portal. Good luck to Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas pronouncing the names of all the Wildcats’ big men tonight.

Best Bet

My favorite bet in this game is the Arizona team total over 74.5 points.

Like I mentioned above, the Wildcats have a good amount of experience, telling me they won’t be too rattled walking into Cameron. On top of that, Caleb Love knows what it’s like and I expect a big day out of him.

I still think Duke is the more talented team overall so I’m not sure about the 5.5-point spread, but I feel confident in the Wildcats scoring 75+ points.

Prediction

I am so freaking excited about this game man. The Wildcats are going to scratch and claw their way into a close game, but I like the Blue Devils to pull it out at home.

Duke wins it 88-83.