The Key Three: Duke basketball vs. N.C. State

Duke has its hands full in the ACC tournament semifinals against N.C. State today at 3 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum. Even though the match-up means no rubber match between Duke and Syracuse, the Blue Devils will have to find a way to do something the Orange could not—contain T.J. Warren, who torched Jim Boeheim's club for 28 points. Here are today's keys to the game:

• Make Warren work: Last night, Rodney Hood and his teammates chased Clemson's K.J. McDaniels all over the court, limiting the junior to 12 points and just two before halftime. It gets no easier today, as Warren leads the conference in scoring at 24.9 points per game. He dropped 23 on the Blue Devils when the teams met Jan. 18 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but those points were rendered largely irrelevant as the Blue Devils coasted to a 95-60 win. Shutting down Warren isn't going to happen, so the best Duke can hope for is containment.
• Pressure the ball: Duke forced 21 Wolfpack turnovers in the first meeting between the teams, many due to unforced errors from Mark Gottfried's young team. That team is playing with a lot more maturity of late, but could revert to old habits if the Blue Devils apply the type of suffocating pressure people have come to associate with Duke basketball. The Blue Devils turned those 21 turnovers into 33 points the first time around, which allowed them to build such a large cushion.
• Heat up from long range: 3-point shooting has all but disappeared for the Blue Devils of late. Duke was just 3-of-13 from distance Saturday night, one of its lowest outputs of the season in both 3-pointers made and attempted. Andre Dawkins and Quinn Cook have struggled from beyond the arc lately, and would benefit greatly from seeing one fall through the net. Hot shooting is contagious, and it's about time for the Blue Devils to bust out of this prolonged slump.