The Western Carolina Catamounts take on the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, NC. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. ET on The CW Network.
Duke is favored by 34.5 points on the spread, and the total is set at 152.5 points.
Here are my Western Carolina vs. Duke predictions and college basketball picks for November 8, 2025.
Western Carolina vs Duke Prediction
My Pick: Duke -34.5
My Western Carolina vs Duke best bet is on Duke to cover the spread. For all of your college basketball bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NCAAB odds page.
Western Carolina vs. Duke Odds
| W. Carolina Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+34.5 -110 | 152.5 -110o / -110u | OFF |
| Duke Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-34.5 -110 | 152.5 -110o / -110u | OFF |
- Western Carolina vs Duke spread: Duke -34.5
- Western Carolina vs Duke over/under: 152.5 points
Western Carolina vs Duke College Basketball Betting Preview
Western Carolina Basketball
Tim Craft is in his second season as the Head Coach of Western Carolina after being at Gardner-Webb for over a decade, and his Catamounts kicked off the season with a 94-63 loss at Cincinnati. With it being year one under a new coaching staff, WCU is still figuring out its team identity and the roles of certain players.
One thing this WCU team did well against Cincinnati was rebounding the basketball. WCU out-rebounded Cincinnati 37-36, and had 14 offensive rebounds.
Cord Stansberry led WCU with 23 points, while shooting 4-9 from 3. Julien Soumaoro, who played for Craft at Gardner-Webb for three years, is also a three-point threat for the Catamounts as he shot 3-8 from 3 against Cincinnati.
Though WCU led in rebounding margin and had a 23-point scorer, Cincinnati never trailed thanks to shooting 54% from the field, 36% from three, and making 20 free throws, compared to WCU's 14 attempts. The Bearcats also had 26 points off 22 turnovers.
If Western Carolina has any chance of pulling off an upset in Cameron, Stansberry and Soumaoro will have to be unconscious from three while holding Duke to 40% or less from the field, and most importantly, taking care of the ball against a Duke team that made Texas look uncomfortable on offense for 40 minutes.
Duke Basketball
Duke is coming off a 75-60 win vs Texas. The first half was sloppy basketball with both teams shooting less than 40% from the field and having a combined 19 turnovers, but Duke held Texas to 32% from the field while the Longhorns only had six assists to 16 turnovers in the win.
Scheyer alluded to it in his post-game press conference, saying that Duke had no film on Texas, and you could tell how out of rhythm Duke looked going into halftime.
Duke made the proper adjustments at halftime and shot 48% from the field, while getting to the free-throw line 22 times.
After going scoreless in the first half, shooting 0-7, Cam Boozer had 15 points on 3-5 shooting and 12 rebounds in the second half.
One thing is for certain: this Duke team can guard 1-4. The consistent on-ball pressure and the aggressiveness in the passing lanes make opposing offenses struggle to get good looks in their offense, and they have to resort to hero ball.
The Center position on the defensive side is still a question mark for me, as Pat Ngongba and Maliq Brown both fouled out against Texas, which resulted in Cam Boozer sliding into the five spot to finish the game.
Western Carolina isn't the opponent where we get the answer I am looking for, as I think Duke rolls against the Catamounts regardless of what happens at the Center position.
Western Carolina vs. Duke Betting Analysis
Defensively, Duke has full-game film on Western Carolina to understand their tendencies and will not be going in blind like they did vs Texas. It also helps when you have lockdown defenders like Caleb Foster, Dame Sarr, and Maliq Brown, who will disrupt WCU trying to get into their half-court sets. Duke is going to make it extremely difficult for WCU to get off shots, let alone good shots, on Saturday.
Offensively, outside of Isaiah Evans, Duke did not shoot the ball well against Texas, and part of the blame I put on that is that Duke and Texas played with a Spalding basketball. You may scoff at reading that, but the data proves my point. Last year, Duke shot 26% (27/102) from three in games using Spalding.
Duke plays with Nike basketballs at home, and they shot 39% (254/656) in games they used Nike balls last year.
Duke's going to get and hit open looks against Western Carolina, on top of the fact that nobody on Western Carolina can match up with Cam Boozer's physicality. I wouldn't be surprised to see Duke have five guys score in double-figures, with Cam Boozer leading the way with 20-plus.
Give me Duke to cover in their home opener.
My Pick: Duke -34.5
