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Joe Lunardi predicts the score of Duke-Houston Final Four

The Duke Blue Devils and the Houston Cougars will fight for a place in the NCAA tournament of the NCAA tournament on Saturday evening. This is the 18th finale of Duke, while Houston will make its seventh place.

No. 1 Seed Duke joins the game and blew through the first four rounds of the NCAA tournament by defeating No. 16 Seed Mount St. Mary's 93-49, No. 9 Saatgut Baylor 89-66, Saatgut No. 4 Arizona 100-93 and No. 2 Saatgut Alabama 85-65.

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In the meantime, No. 1 Seed Houston No. 16 Siu Edwardsville 78-40, No. 8 Gonzaga 81-76, No. 4 seeds Purdue 62-60 and No. 2 seeds Tennessee 69-50.

After completing the elite eight on Sunday, Joe Lunardi, the ESPN college basketball analyst, shared his score for Duke-Houston.

Although Houston is a 4.5-point outsider (ESPN bet), Lunardi selects the Cougars to beat the Blue Devils 75-70.

The scene of the Final Four 2024 in Glendale, Ariz. © Joe Rondone & Sol; The Republic & Sol; USA Today Network

Lunardi admitted that he would normally drive with a talented team without experience as a less talented team with a lot of experience. However, Houston has both while Duke is very young.

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“In general, I would still choose talent about experience, but it is not as if the Houston boys are not invented,” said Lunardi. “The Cougars won 159 games in the J'Wan Roberts-Kelvin Sampson era. These are their second final four. The Cougars can also claim the longest current winning streak in the country at 17 victories. They have only lost once since November.

Three of Duke's starter are newcomers: Cooper Flagg (18 years old), Kon Knueppel (19) and Khaman Maluach (18). Four of Houston's five starters are 21 or older: LJ Cryer (23), Emanuel Sharp (21), J'wan Roberts (23) and Milos Uzan (22)

Both teams were among the best in College basketball all season. In fact, they keep the two best places in the Kenpom ranking with Duke in first place and Houston.

The Blue Devils (35-3) have the most efficient offensive in the country and take fourth place in defensive efficiency, while the Cougars (34-4) have the highest defense of the country and a top 10 offensive. Whenever the best offensive violates the best defense, she sets a classic.

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The tip in San Antonio is planned on Saturday at 8:49 p.m. The winner will compete on April 7th in the National Championship against Auburn or Florida.

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