Duke vs FSU Preview
TUESDAY, JAN. 18, 2022 | DONALD L. TUCKER CENTER | TALLAHASSEE, FL | 9 PM ET
The Series
Overall Duke leads, 41-10
In Durham, NC Duke leads, 22-2 (22-2 at Cameron Indoor)
In Tallahassee, FL Duke leads, 16-7 (16-7 at Tucker Center)
Last Meeting Duke, 70-65 (2/20/20 @ Duke)
Coach K vs. Florida State 38-9
Last 10 Games (Streak) Duke, 9-1 (Duke, 5W)
TV
Network ESPN
Play-by-Play Dan Shulman
Analyst Cory Alexander
Sideline Andraya Carter
Producer Kim Belton
Stream WatchESPN
RADIO
Network Blue Devils Sports
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
Stream GoDuke.com; Varsity app
Sirius/XM 84 / 84
Duke vs FSU:
In a battle of teams near the top of the ACC, The 14-2 Duke Blue Devils Duke takes on the 10-5 Florida State Seminoles Tuesday night at the Tucker Center in Tallahassee. The No. 6 ranked Blue Devils and the Seminoles are meeting for the first time in more than a year as both of the meetings last season were canceled by COVID-19 protocols.
Florida State
Entering Tuesday the Leonard Hamilton’s Florida State club sits at 10-5, 4-2 in the ACC. Tied for fourth in the conference standings with Notre Dame, Florida State is coming off a win on the road at Syracuse (76-71) without one of their star players, Malik Osborne. The Seminoles got a huge lift from their bench with 29 points. They are also able to score 22 points off of 12 Syracuse turnovers. Caleb Mills paced the Seminoles with a team high 19 points and 4 assists avenging an earlier loss at home to the Orange.
Caleb Mills leads the Seminoles in scoring at 13 points per game, he also is tied for the lead in assists with Anthony Polite with both averaging 2.9 per game. FSU’s leading rebounding is senior forward Malik Osborne who missed their last game at Syracuse in a walking boot. On the coaching conference Monday Coach Leonard Hamilton disclosed that he wasn’t sure if Osbourne would play but he assumed probably not. Osborne averages 7.2 boards per game to go along with 11 points.
Shooting just under 35% from 3, the Seminoles have seen their percentage drop in ACC play to just 30 % from beyond the arc. They have thrived in transition and are 14th in the nation in steals and lead the ACC with (9.7). Within the ACC they are 4th in offensive rebounding and 4th in blocks.
Duke
The Blue Devils are coming off of an 88-73 home win versus the North Carolina State Wolfpack. A win that saw the 3 Blue Devil bigs combine for 50 points. Duke enters the game with the nation’s third best assist/turnover ratio of 1.77. The Blue Devils also rank top 15 nationally and lead the ACC in field goal shooting (.492) and assists (17.4). Duke has had a positive assist/turnover ratio in 14 of 16 games — its only games with a negative ratio came vs. Kentucky (9 turnovers, 8 assists) and Virginia Tech (11, 10).
Junior guard Wendell Moore Jr. is scoring at a 15.4 clip per game, however, the Blue Devils are led in scoring by freshman Paolo Banchero who is scoring at a 17.9 point per game clip. Banchero has scored 20+ points in three straight games, in addition, the freshman forward leads the Blue Devils in rebounding at 7.4 per game. Moore Jr. leads the team in assists at 4.8 per game.
Sophomore Mark Williams is fifth nationally and leads the ACC in blocked shots (3.44). He is coming off a near triple-double against NC State with 19 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high eight blocks. Freshman Trevor Keels is second in the ACC in assist/turnover ratio (2.6) and third in the league in steals (1.94). In two games last week, Keels totaled 23 points, 13 assists, four turnovers and seven steals. Duke is 12-0 when Keels scores in double figures.
Duke vs FSU: Keys to the Game
Playing against the Syracuse zone showed what the Seminoles can be when they settle in. The Seminoles were 12-of-20 from 3-point range for 60%. Neither team turns the basketball over much with Duke (+4.00) and FSU (+3.40) second and third respectively, in turnover margin. Fast break points very well could be at a minimum which means rebounding becomes doubly important as it could be the only means of fast break opportunities. This also means that the Blue Devils need to take , as Jon Scheyer put it, team shots and be leery of their shot selection overall. Transition defense should also be a point of emphasis.
Florida state is a well coached team and despite their record this 3 game winning streak is a testament to where they can be by seasons end. Their defense ranks 35th nationally in terms of adjusted efficiency and Duke will have to be sound, crips and really work the ball around on offense. The Seminoles have incredible size, Florida State is the tallest team on average — at 79.4 inches. Fishing through contact and being a lot more physical will be important for the Blue Devils, the second half of the NC State game showed that Duke has the ability.
DUKE VS FSU
STAT COMPARISON
| Team | G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
16 | 40.0 | 30.6 | 62.3 | .492 | 22.8 | 40.7 | .561 | 7.8 | 21.6 | .362 | 14.1 | 19.4 | .726 | 10.5 | 27.7 | 38.2 | 17.4 | 8.3 | 6.0 | 9.9 | 13.8 | 83.1 |
 |
15 | 40.3 | 26.5 | 59.1 | .448 | 19.0 | 37.7 | .504 | 7.5 | 21.4 | .349 | 12.8 | 18.3 | .698 | 10.9 | 24.3 | 35.2 | 14.3 | 9.7 | 4.5 | 13.0 | 17.0 | 73.2 |
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS
DUKE VS FSU
Duke Blue Devils
Guard Trevor Keels 6’5, 221lbs – Freshman
Guard / Forward Wendell Moore 6’5, 213lbs – Junior
Forward AJ Griffin 6’6, 222lbs – Freshman
Forward Paolo Banchero 6’10, 250lbs – Freshman
Center Mark Williams 7’1, 242lbs – Sophomore
Florida State
Guard RayQuan Evans 6’4, 200lbs – Senior
Guard Anthony Polite 6’4, 214lbs Redshirt Senior
Guard Caleb Mills 6’5, 180lbs – Redshirt Sophomore
Forward John Butler 7’1, 190lbs – Freshman
Center Naheem McLeod 7’4, 255lbs – Junior
