Your Pocket Guide to Duke–NC State

Here are three things to watch for when the Blue Devils take on the Wolfpack at the RBC Center today at 7 p.m.:

1. Hitting the road

For a team that's 16-1 and No. 4 in the country, Duke has an awful conference road record: 0-1. True, that one loss came on an awful shooting night against a very underrated Florida State team, but it's still telling. When these two teams met last year, NC State was able to capitalize on its home court advantage by shooting 58 percent from the field while holding Duke to only 39 percent shooting. The only thing keeping that game interesting was the Blue Devils plus-15 rebound advantage. They probably won't get that this year, so they'll have to keep the Wolfpack out of the comfort zone, while finding their own shooting stroke.

2. Rebounding

Despite Duke's middle-of-the-pack rebounding numbers for the season (Duke ranks 128th and 103rd in offensive rebounding percentage and offensive rebounding percentage allowed respectively, according to Ken Pomeroy) the Blue Devils, particularly Mason Plumlee, have stepped up their game of late. Plumlee has 30 rebounds in the last two games alone and Duke has out-rebounded its last four opponents, despite losing the battle of the boards against even UNC-Greensboro. Although the Wolfpack lack height—no one in their primary rotation is listed above 6-foot-8—it doesn't lack size. Six-foot-8 forward Tracy Smith, wh0 leads the team in scoring, is 255 pounds and the 6-foot-8 Richard Howell is listed at 261. C.J. Leslie, an extremely athletic freshman, leads the team with eight rebounds per game despite being significantly lankier than Smith and Howell. Collecting rebounds is always important, but it's especially useful as an equalizer in a hostile environment.

3. Starting Faster

Over the last three games, Duke has been outscored 90-81 in the first half.  In each of those struggles continued into the second half, as the Blue Devils faced deficits of eight, 11, and nine against Maryland, Florida State, and Virginia respectively. In each of those games, Duke came back to tie the game. In the two home games—against the Terrapins and the Cavaliers—the Blue Devils' runs got the crowd involved and the team was able to take the lead for good as momentum shifted. Against the Seminoles, that wasn't the case. Home court allows to seize, and to some extent regain, momentum far more easily than their opponents. If Duke continues to start off slowly, there's a real possibility of falling too far behind to mount a feasible comeback.