College Hoops Picks: Georgetown Hoyas at Duke Blue Devils

Almost three years ago to the day, an unranked Georgetown Hoya team upset the top ranked Duke Blue Devils. The victory temporarily cast them into the national spotlight, and they went on to make it to the Sweet Sixteen in March.

The story and players are a little different this time around. JJ Redick and Shelden Williams are not running the show for the Blue Devils and Jeff Green, Jonathan Wallace, and Roy Hibbert are not the stars for the Hoyas anymore. Both coach Krzyzewski and coach Thompson are still at the helm for their programs, though, and it does not look like that is going to change any time soon.

The main difference, though, between Saturday's matchup and 2006's is location and expectation—Duke will be the home team this time around, and the nation is expecting something out of the Hoyas.

Both programs have had success so far this season as well—the Hoyas are in the midst of the toughest stretch in college hoops, taking on UConn, Pitt, Duke, Notre Dame, and Syracuse in a matter of weeks, while the Blue Devils have faced opponents such as Loyola (MD), Verginia Tech, Davidson, Florida State, and Georgia Tech.

But this should not detract from what the team has accomplished this season. Duke's only loss came to Michigan on the road in a rematch of the Coaches vs. Cancer Final earlier in the season. It should surprise no one that the Blue Devils will be ready to play on Saturday.

	Georgetown	Duke
Record:	12-3	15-1
Conf. Record:	3-2	3-0
PF:	75.0	80.8
PA:	60.7	60.2
FG %	.486	.470
FT %	.733	.728
3P %	.350	.333
RPG	34.0	40.3
SPG	8.2	9.1
TO	13.3	14.5

These two elite programs match up very well. The Hoyas struggle with rebounding compared to Duke, but they commit less turnovers and shoot slightly better. But these two teams match up in other ways as well:

	Georgetown	Duke
RPI:	8	1
SOS:	1	2
Def. FG%	.374	.388
Def. 3P%	.303	.308
Opp. SPG	6.2	6.4

These two top ten RPI teams will both be looking to make a statement about how good they really are on Saturday.

Georgetown Key Players

DaJuan Summers (Junior, Forward)

Summers is playing lights-out right now. He is averaging 15.1 points per game, shooting .444 from beyond the arc and .538 from the floor. He stepped up against Syracuse the other night, hitting 21 points on seven for 13 from the floor. He did get a little passionate after an intentional foul, though, and earned himself a technical.

Greg Monroe (Freshman, Center)

While Monroe hasn't achieved his usual points in the last two games, he has made up for it elsewhere. Against Providence he was good for 13 points, but also dished out eight assists and grabbed 11 rebound. When the Hoyas faced Syracuse, Monroe added 10 points for the Hoyas, but also helped out with six assists (and seven rebounds). On the year, he is averaging 13.3 points per game, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks. His assists have been on the rise (he is now up to 2.7 assists per game), but since conference play began he has averaged 4.6.

Duke Key Players

Kyle Singler (Sophomore, Forward)

Singler is the leading scorer for the Blue Devils with 16.9 points per game. He also adds 7.9 rebounds and is shooting .338 from beyond the arc. He is very dangerous from anywhere on the floor and is the clear leader of the team.

Gerald Henderson (Junior, Guard/Forward)

When Henderson is on, he's dangerous. When he's having a bad game, though, he's not an offensive factor. He has scored as many as 25 points and as little as two this season, although his is averaging 13.4. He is also shooting .432 from beyond the arc and is yet to have a game where he doesn't attempt a three.

Prediction

Current Line: Duke -8.0

Georgetown ATS: 6-4
Duke ATS: 7-5

Even their records against the spread make these two teams very even (Duke has one more win and one extra loss). If Georgetown plays like they did against Syracuse, it's going to be a close game. Duke relies heavily on their threes, and when they are off, they struggle. Given Georgetown's stellar defense, I'll take the Hoyas +8.0.