(Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)

March Madness continues with some Sweet 16 action between the Duke Blue Devils and the Houston Cougars. Duke is coming off of back-to-back blowout victories meanwhile, Houston had a close call against Texas A&M squeaking by in OT to advance to the Sweet 16.

These two are going to battle it out for a spot in the Elite 8 in this Friday showdown in Dallas at the American Airlines Center. We take a look at this marquee matchup to make a Duke-Cougars prediction and pick.

Duke (26-8) is playing their best basketball right now as they are coming off of a dominant outing against the James Madison Dukes who they blew out by 35 in a 93-55 victory. They are now 7-3 in their last 10 games, covering the spread in 7 out of their last 10 games and both tournament games. They now look to advance to the Elite 8 when they take on the No. 1-seeded Houston Cougars.

Houston (32-4) has won 9 out of their last 10 games but had a scare in their round of 32 game when they fought tooth and nail with the Aggies just barely getting past them 100-95 in overtime failing to cover the -8.5-point spread. Now, Houston will look to get some momentum back on their side when they head into Dallas to take on a Blue Devils team that isn't going to take it lightly on them in this Friday night matchup.

MARCH MADNESS: DUKE BLUE DEVILS VS. HOUSTON COUGARS FANDUEL ODDS FOR MAR. 29

MONEY LINE

• DUKE BLUE DEVILS: +168
• HOUSTON COUGARS: -205

SPREAD

• DUKE BLUE DEVILS: +4.5 (-110)
• HOUSTON COUGARS: -4.5 (-110)

OVER/UNDER (TOTAL)

• OVER 134.5 (-110)
• UNDER 134.5 (-110)

BEST MARCH MADNESS ODDS FOR DUKE BLUE DEVILS VS. HOUSTON COUGARS

• The Houston Cougars are -4.5-point favorites against the Duke Blue Devils. FanDuel currently has the best odds at (-110)
• The Duke Blue Devils are the underdogs by 4.5 points to cover the spread. FanDuel currently has the best odds at (-110)
• FanDuel currently has the best odds for the total, which is set at 151.5 (-110) for the over, and (-110) for the under

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DUKE BLUE DEVILS VS. HOUSTON COUGARS INJURY REPORT

DUKE BLUE DEVILS INJURY REPORT

• BAS LEYTE - OUT FOR SEASON - SHOULDER
• ALEX HEMENWAY - OUT FOR SEASON - LEG
• JAKE HEIDBREDER - OUT FOR SEASON - REDSHIRT

ARIZONA WILDCATS INJURY REPORT INJURY REPORT

• NONE

WHY DUKE BLUE DEVILS WILL COVER THE SPREAD

The Duke Blue Devils were slumping coming into the tournament losing back-to-back games to NC State and UNC. Many believed that Duke wasn't going to do much and so did the bookmakers when lining their first and second-round matchups. The Blue Devils were only a 6-point favorite against James Madison and they went to obliterate them with one of the biggest margin of victories in the tournament.

Jared McCain had himself a game against James Madison scoring 30 points with 5 rebounds while shooting a blistering 8-for-11 from 3-point range and 10-15 from the floor. This Duke squad still have one of the best players in the country on their team and that is Kyle Filipowski.

He didn't contribute much in their blowout of Vermont but he got back on track in their round of 32 game when he scored 14 points to go along with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2, steals, and 1 block having a great all-around performance.

However, the Blue Devils still have been playing great basketball collectively as a team with four players scoring double digits in their victory against James Madison while scoring 93 points.

Also, the Blue Devils have been stifling on defense limiting both James Madison and Vermont, with neither team hitting more than 38% from the floor and 25% from 3-point range. Against a team like the Houston Cougars, that defense is going to be crucial to their success in getting past this No. 1 seed and to the Elite 8.

WHY HOUSTON COUGARS WILL COVER THE SPREAD

The No. 1-seeded Houston Cougars aren't living up to their top seed on their side of the bracket. The Cougars came in and blew out Longwood 86-46 as expected but then they had a rough time against Texas A&M. They had to get the win by going to overtime with the Aggies with a 5-point victory 100-95.

Cougars are one of the top teams in the league in defense only allowing their opposition to score averaging 56.9 points per game while shooting just 38.3% from the floor which was No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the nation during the regular season.

They also had a point differential of +15.3 which helped them cover 17 of their 36 games this season.

Their star guard LJ Cryer leads the pack with 15.7 points per game while shooting 38.9% from 3-point range. However, in their overtime win against Texas A&M, it was Emanuel Sharp who led the team in scoring with his 30 points. He did get some help as Cryer, and Jamal Shead had over 20 points to help them get past the Aggies and onto the Sweet 16.

It's up to this Cougars defense to do what they are accustomed to and that is make it tough on Duke's perimeter shooters to get off quality shots and keep Filipowsky off the glass. If they got that going for them they can get their own offense going to get the win and advance to the Elite 8.

FINAL DUKE-HOUSTON PICK & PREDICTION

This game should be a good one from start to finish. Seeing as how the Duke Blue Devils have been playing good cohesive basketball on both ends, their momentum could take them a long way in this matchup with the Houston Cougars.

While Houston were heavily predicted to make it out of this side of the bracket, Duke can certainly rain on their parade and not only cover this spread which they have done so in 7 out of their last 10 games but also get the upset victory and get themselves back into the Elite 8.

FINAL DUKE-HOUSTON PICK & PREDICTION: DUKE BLUE DEVILS +4.5 (-115)

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