Louisville Basketball vs. Duke Final Game Prediction
By Caleb Hall
Kenny Payne and the Louisville Cardinals will be looking to try and even the season series between the Cardinals and the Duke Blue Devils, while also trying to get their 2nd road win of the season.
Payne has hardly had any luck on the road in his two seasons at Louisville, with his only road win coming this season at Miami, where the Cards won 80-71. While Duke is coming off a 3 game road stretch where they lost to Wake Forest on the road this past weekend. Duke was on a 5 game winning streak prior to the lost to the Demon Deacons in Winston Salem.
Louisville has mightily struggled in the past 3 games, where they have lost by double digits in all three and by 22+ points in the last 2 games. Things seem to be falling apart by the minute for Payne's squad, and it couldn't be a worse timed trip for the Cardinals to head to Cameron Indoor to take on #10 Duke.
I am expecting Louisville to keep it close for the first 5-8 minutes of the game, but Duke will likely pull away after that, as they are much more talented and better coached than the Cards. Louisville was down by as much as 18 in the first half against Duke in their last matchup, and without the home Yum Center crowd it will be very difficult to come back from any deficit if you're Louisville.
The Cardainals will keep it close early, but expect Duke to pull away rather quickly in this one.