NCAA Tournament: Duke vs. Cal State-Fullerton 3/18/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Cal State-Fullerton Titans and Duke Blue Devils meet in the first round of the college basketball NCAA Tournament from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Friday night.

The Cal State-Fullerton Titans come into the conference tournament as the #15 seed, repping the Big West conference after hoisting the conference tournament title following a 21-10 regular season including 11-4 in Big West conference play. The Titans took down UC-Davis, Hawaii and Long Beach State on their way to the crown. E.J. Anosike leads the Titans in scoring and rebounding with 16.5 PPG and 8.3 RPG while Damari Milstead has 12.1 PPG with a team-high 2.8 APG to lead the Titans in assists and to cap off the pair of double-digit scorers for the Titans this season. Tray Maddox Jr. and Jalen Harris each have 9+ PPG this season. As a team, CSU-Fullerton is averaging 70.5 PPG on 44.7% shooting from the field, 31% from three and 77.1% from the foul line while allowing 67.1 PPG on 44.6% shooting from the field and 38.1% from three this season.

The Duke Blue Devils come in as the #2 seed, finishing the year with an overall record of 28-6, including a 16-4 mark in ACC play to finish as the ACC regular season champions. Duke took down Syracuse and Miami before falling to Virginia Tech in the conference championship game. Paolo Banchero leads Duke in scoring and rebounding with 17 PPG and 7.8 RPG while Wendell Moore Jr. has 13.5 PPG with 5.4 RPG and 4.6 APG to lead the Blue Devils in assists. Trevor Keels has 11.8 PPG with 3.1 APG and Mark Williams has 10.9 PPG and 7.4 RPG this season. AJ Griffin also has 10.4 PPG and 3.8 RPG as well to make up the group of double-digit scorers for Duke so far this season. As a team, Duke is averaging 80.4 PPG on 48.9% shooting from the field, 37.7% from three and 73.1% from the foul line while allowing 66 PPG on 41.3% shooting from the field and 30.2% from three this season.

Cal State-Fullerton is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as an underdog and 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a win while the under is 4-0 in their last 4 games as an underdog. Duke is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall and 0-6 ATS in their last 6 NCAA tournament games while the over is 6-0 in their last 6 games as a favorite.

I get the case to be made for CSU-Fullerton and the points, as this game just comes down to if Duke feels like blowing the Titans out. In certain instances I’d say maybe not, but the bottom line is that that’s now twice that Duke has blown a big moment for Coach K in his last go. The Blue Devils lost to UNC in the season finale and the last home game for Coach K and then lost to Virginia Tech in Coach K’s last ACC tournament. I think the Dukies have some frustration to take out here, so give me the Blue Devils by 20+.