The 12-seed James Madison Dukes will face the 4-seed Duke Blue Devils in the South Region of the 2024 NCAA Tournament with the game taking place in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center with the tip-off scheduled for 5:15 Sunday evening and will air on CBS.

The James Madison Dukes continued the annual tradition of a 12-seed upsetting a 5-seed with their win against the Wisconsin Badgers in the 1^st round of the NCAA Tournament by a score of 72-61 and never trailed the Badgers after starting the game off on a 10-2 run and led by 17 points with 1:07 left in the 1^st half, the Badgers would cut the deficit to 13 points before halftime by making four free throws. 

The win was the 5^th time out of the 6 NCAA Tournament appearances that the Dukes have won at least one game in the tournament with the win also extending the winning streak for James Madison to 14 games and have won four of their last five games by double-digits including an 11-point win against the Badgers on Friday. The Dukes have been one of the highest-scoring teams in college basketball this season and enter this matchup ranked 10^th nationally in scoring with an average of 84.21 points per game. 

The James Madison Dukes will look to make their first Sweet 16 in school history with a win against the Duke Blue Devils in the 2^nd round of the NCAA Tournament.

Duke ended their two-game losing streak entering the tournament with a dominating defensive performance against the Vermont Catamounts in the 1^st round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Friday limiting the Catamounts to 47 points and winning the game by a score of 64-47. 

A strong defensive performance isn’t anything new for the Blue Devils this season as they have limited opponents to an average of 67.44 points per game which ranks 54^th nationally in college basketball this season. Duke will need better offensive play as they will likely be in a shootout in their 2^nd round matchup against James Madison as the Blue Devils have only averaged 66.5 points per game in their last two games, a far cry from their season average of 79.84 points per game. Advancing to the 2^nd round is a near lock for Duke as they have advanced to at least the 2^nd round in their last seven tournament appearances and have advanced to the Sweet 16 in four of their last five NCAA Tournaments. 

The Duke Blue Devils will look to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 2022 NCAA Tournament after losing in the 2^nd round of the 2023 NCAA to the Tennessee Volunteers by a score of 52-65 when they face a team that has never advanced to the Sweet 16, the James Madison Dukes, in the 2^nd round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Sunday evening.

JustBet has the Duke Blue Devils listed as 7.5-point favorites against the James Madison Dukes in the 2^nd round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Sunday evening. Duke is one of the bluebloods in college basketball while the James Madison Dukes have only appeared in 6 NCAA tournaments. The Dukes have a record of 19-14-1 ATS overall while the Blue Devils have a record of 19-13-1 ATS overall this season.

James Madison has won their last 14 games but is only making their 6^th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and has never advanced past the 2^nd round in school history while Duke has a lengthy history of NCAA Tournament success and has advanced to the Sweet 16 in four of their previous five NCAA tournament appearances. I look for Duke to end the 14-game winning streak for the Dukes and to have a relatively easy time against the Dukes on Sunday. As a result, I am buying the .5 point and laying the points with the Duke Blue Devils when they face the James Madison Dukes in the 2^nd round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Sunday evening.