Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
Tip-off: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Line: Duke -4

No. 8 Duke will play its third game at Madison Square Garden this season when it goes up against UCLA and its high-octane offense on Thursday night.

The Bruins rank third in the nation in both scoring (89.1 PPG), and assists (18.9 APG), while leading all Division-I schools with a blistering 54.3% FG clip. Their lone loss came on the road at Missouri, an 80-71 defeat two games ago on Dec. 7. UCLA is outscoring teams by 18.9 PPG this season, going 6-3 ATS overall and 2-0 ATS on neutral courts. The Blue Devils are just 5-5 ATS overall this season, including 1-2 (SU and ATS) on neutral courts. Both of their losses this season came to top teams on neutral courts, falling to then-No. 5 Kansas and current No. 1 Arizona. But these defeats are a good sign for Thursday, as Duke is 13-3 ATS (81%) after failing to cover in two of its past three games. The Blue Devils’ offense isn’t too shabby either, ranking 16th in the nation in scoring (86.0 PPG) and sixth in shooting (51.7% FG Pct.). Duke has also done a nice job limiting mistakes this season with only 10.4 turnovers per game, but Bruins head coach Steve Alford is 23-10 ATS (70%) in non-home games versus excellent ball-handling teams (12 or less TO per game) in his coaching career. These powerhouse programs have met three times since 1998 with the Blue Devils winning all three (SU and ATS). These schools last met on neutral court on Nov. 30, 2002, when Duke made 54.2% FG (43% threes) and coasted to an 84-73 victory.

Can UCLA hand Duke its third neutral-court loss this season? For the latest college basketball picks, check out The Platinum Sheet for all the StatFox Experts selections every week throughout the entire 2013-14 season. The StatFox Experts have been rolling in college basketball Best Bets this season with a 60% ATS (92-61-5) mark, including an eye-popping 69% ATS (57-26) record since Nov. 26. StatFox Zach is leading the way at 67% ATS (20-10-1) on Best Bets this season, while StatFox Scott is 61% ATS (19-12), StatFox Gary is 60% ATS (18-12-2), StatFox Brian is 60% ATS (18-12-1) and StatFox Dave is 53% ATS (17-15-1).

UCLA’s high-powered offense is paced by sophomore SG Jordan Adams (21.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG), who is hitting 53% of his shots (38% threes) and snagging an incredible 3.5 SPG on the defensive end. He’s part of the reason why the Bruins rank second nationally with 11.4 SPG. The team’s second leading scorer is freshman SG Zach LaVine (13.8 PPG on 59% FG), who is a dangerous weapon off the bench, making two three-pointers per game on a 47% clip from beyond the arc. But sophomore swingman Kyle Anderson (13.8 PPG, 8.7 RPG) may be the most difficult player to guard on this squad. With the body of a post player at 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds, and the skill set of a guard, he is a matchup nightmare for any team. He is also remarkably consistent, scoring at least 13 points in seven consecutive games. Junior SG Norman Powell (12.2 PPG on 60% FG, 1.7 SPG) rounds out the team’s double-digit scorers while PF David Wear (7.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG) and C Tony Parker (6.9 PPG, 5.7 RPG) are important rebounders down low. But this is not a great rebounding team (36.2 RPG, 160th in nation), and it was certianly not effective on the boards in the team’s loss to Missouri, getting outrebounded by 17, something the Blue Devils could look to exploit.

Duke’s offense is paced by freshman star PF Jabari Parker (22.0 PPG, 7.6 RPG) who leads the team in both scoring and rebounding. A threat from both inside and outside, he’s hitting 1.5 threes per game on a healthy 47% clip while averaging 1.4 BPG and 1.1 SPG on the defensive end. Containing Parker is the key to containing Duke, as Arizona limited him to 33% shooting (7-of-21 FG) in their victory over the Blue Devils at this same MSG court on Nov. 29. Parker is joined by sophomore SF Rodney Hood (18.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG), who is similarly a threat from all over the court on offense, and is shooting a robust 57% FG and 46% threes (16-of-35). Junior PG Quinn Cook (14.7 PPG, 6.6 APG) runs the show, and is the team’s third and final double-digit scorer. In his past six games, Cook has averaged 16.3 PPG (49% FG) and 6.8 APG. Meanwhile, senior SG Andre Dawkins (8.6 PPG on 53.2% FG) can provide bursts of scoring off the bench, hitting 18-of-37 threes (49%) in only 12.7 MPG. He scored a season-high 18 points (4-of-8 threes) in the team’s most recent game, an 85-66 win over Gardner-Webb. C Amile Jefferson (5.6 PPG on 69% FG, 4.8 RPG) is also a valuable reserve, and he has grabbed 16 rebounds in just 29 minutes over his past two games.