Perfectly predicting the scores of every Duke basketball game this season

Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski (Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports)
Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski (Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports) /
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Pitt basketball head coach Jeff Capel (USA TODAY Sports) /

Predicting the final score of the 14th Duke basketball game this season

Opponent: Pittsburgh Panthers

Date: Jan. 19 or 20

Time: To be announced

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. (Petersen Events Center)

Pittsburgh’s record last season: 16-17 (6-14 in ACC)

Head coach: Jeff Capel (205-146 in 11 seasons as a head coach, including a 30-36 clip in two seasons at Pittsburgh)

Why Duke will win: Jeff Capel, who played under Mike Krzyzewski in the mid-1990s and then helped Duke thrive on the recruiting trail as the associate head coach on the Blue Devil bench for most of the 2010s, has faced his alma mater only twice since taking over at Pitt in 2018. In both meetings, Duke scored 79 points and won by roughly a dozen points. Though Capel seems to have his program headed in the right direction, the prediction here is a similar outcome to the past two.

Predicted final score: Duke 79, Pittsburgh 66

Duke’s predicted overall record to date: 10-4 (5-2 in ACC)