Here’s the latest installment of the Play of the Day, which uses odds from the South Point. Our four sports writers started with…
We’ve entered the fourth season of the annual South Point-lined Play of the Day competition, effective July 1.
Starting bankrolls have reset to $10,000, with the maximum bet being to win $1,000 and the minimum wager $300. Ray Brewer won back-to-back titles in the 2015-2016 and 2016-17 seasons, after Taylor Bern prevailed in 2014-2015.
Duke minus-3.5 vs. Kansas: $660 to win $600
In a tournament dominated by Cinderellas and upsets, the Midwest Region is the closest thing to normalcy. In the regional final it’s a matchup between the top two seeds, both of which are blue-blood programs that have dominated college basketball for decades.
The Blue Devils are laying 3.5 points despite being the lower seed, and with good reason. Duke has looked the part of a top-two seed with blowout wins over Iona and Rhode Island, and controlled the entire game against Syracuse before winning by only four.
On the other hand, Kansas has looked shaky in tournament. The Jayhawks trialed 16-seed Penn early on before pulling away late, struggled mightily with Seton Hall and nearly blew a 20-point lead against Clemson.
Kansas can shoot the three. The Jayhawks shot 41 percent from behind the arc this season, and 43 percent in the tournament, but the Blue Devils have held opponents to only 31 percent from deep.
I think the game will be decided in the paint, and more specifically on the glass. Duke is one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, averaging 41.4 per game. The Blue Devils crushed Syracuse with 16 offensive rebounds, and made them pay with second-chance points. Duke is led by future top-5 NBA draft selection Marvin Bagley III (11.1 rebounds per game), but Wendell Carter Jr. also averages more than nine rebounds per game.
Kansas has only one player averaging more than five rebounds per game (Udoka Azubuike) and is ranked 177th in the country with only 35.4 rebounds per game as a team.
I expect Duke to win the game with second-chance scoring.
Current Standings: Granger (17-14, $12,419), Keefer (29-23-1, $11,346), Brewer (24-23-1, $8,500), Grimala (13-19, $5,765)
