Virginia Tech was great over the last part of the season – winning five games in six and 11-of-13 before having to face North Carolina on Friday night.

It lost by ten in the first meeting with the Tar Heels and eight the second time.

And then the Hokies couldn’t miss from three, North Carolina couldn’t hit from three, and out came the 72-59 shocker to make ESPN executives break something tasteful for not getting Duke-North Carolina in the ACC final.

Virginia Tech might not rebound all that well, but it’s one of the sharpest teams in the nation from three and it’s dangerous enough to give Duke a slew of problems – the Blue Devils struggled against Miami’s offense on the outside in the 80-76 win.

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Here come the rebounds.

Again, Virginia Tech isn’t a big rounding team and doesn’t do enough on the offensive boards. That didn’t matter much against a strong rebounding North Carolina team, but Duke should be a mortal lock for about 35 boards and at least ten on the offensive glass.

It’s been a struggle lately for the Blue Devils, but they’ve been able to make up for the inconsistencies with rebounding margin – for the most part.

Speaking of inconsistent, Virginia Tech has a hard time scoring when the threes aren’t falling, but …

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Virginia Tech might have hit 9-of-20 from three against North Carolina, and it might be great at getting its guys free for open looks, but now it gets a Duke defense that’s the best in the ACC at stopping the three.

But not lately.

North Carolina was on from the outside against the Blue Devils, Syracuse cranked out 13 threes, and Miami was a problem. Virginia Tech will make enough threes to keep this close, but it won’t get the rebounds in the last five minutes it needs.

Duke will get three key boards and hit a few big free throws to pull away late.

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Duke 77, Virginia Tech 68
Line: Duke -6, o/u: 138.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3

Duke vs Virginia Tech Must See Rating: 4.5

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