Duke is coming into this game with a 26-8 record this season and they were 15-5 in their conference. Duke ended the season with a 5 point home loss to UNC and then followed it up with a 5 point loss to NC State in their conference tournament, but they have bounced back and have been playing much better in their recent games. They have won their last 2 straight as well as 5 of their last 7 games and they were still the 2nd best team in the ACC this regular season. They beat Vermont by close to 20 points in the 1st round and they followed it up with a win over James Madison in the last round by close to 40 points. They are going up against a Houston team that is 32-4 this season and was 15-3 in their conference. They have been playing very well in their recent games as they have won their last 2 straight as well as 13 of their last 14 games, their only loss in that span coming against Iowa State, but they struggled a lot in the last round. They dominated Longwood in the 1st round with a win by 40 points but they struggled in the last round as they only beat Texas A&M by 5 points in a game that went to OT. Houston also had multiple opportunities to put Texas A&M away as they led the whole game, yet they allowed Texas A&M to close out the last 2 mins with a 13-3 run which tied the game and sent it to OT. They also allowed 95 points in that game against a Texas A&M team that has not been good with their shooting this season. Houston has an elite defense as they are number 1 in the country in a lot of categories, but their shooting percentages have been awful as they are only top 130 in the country from beyond the arc and they are in the bottom half of the country for shooting from the field. Duke has the shooting to keep up in this game as they are top 25 from the field as well as top 12 from 3 point range, and they do not have a bad defense either. Duke has the talent with their shooting to keep this a close game just like Texas A&M did in the last round, but Duke has a much better chance to win this game straight up. Duke will cover the spread in this game.