Virginia Cavaliers vs. Duke Blue Devils (-16.5)
Welcome to the second round Virginia. The Cavaliers won an ACC tournament game for the first time in four years when they upset Boston College, 68-62 Thursday. The real question is, how did the Cavaliers, who are without suspended leading scorer Sylven Landesberg and entered the tournament losers of nine straight, stun the Eagles?
Virginia pulled off the upset by getting a standout performance from sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski, who dropped 21 points on the Eagles. Zeglinski entered the game averaging a modest 8.8 points per game.
But he will need to be even better against the top-seeded Blue Devils. Duke split the regular season title with Maryland and has been a force this year, posting a 19-11 ATS record. Look for the Blue Devils, who are playing to lock up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, to try to bury the Cavs.
Routing Virginia, however, is nothing new for Duke. The Blue Devils drubbed the Cavaliers, 67-49, in Charlottesville earlier this year. Duke is 4-0 ATS in its past four meetings with Virginia and 5-3 ATS in its past eight overall.
Prediction: Duke 73, Virginia 54
Miami Hurricanes vs. Virginia Tech Hokies (-3.5)
Can the Hurricanes do it again? The worst team in the ACC pounded fifth-seeded Wake Forest from start to finish in an 83-62 win. Miami is without leading scorer and rebounder Dwayne Collins but didn’t miss a beat, getting a career-high 22 points from redshirt freshman Reggie Johnson.
And with Collins expected to miss the quarterfinals with a leg injury, Miami will again have to get a monster game from Johnson, who was 8-of-8 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
But Miami has been able to play with the Hokies this season, splitting the season series with an 82-75 win at home and an 81-66 loss in Blacksburg.
The Hokies enter the tournament playing well, winning two straight and seven of their last 10. Virginia Tech, however, is just 5-5 ATS during that span.
Miami is playing loose, confident and should have enough to stun their second-straight opponent.
Prediction: Miami 81, Virginia Tech 78