The Blue Devils will host Florida State Saturday at 2 p.m. in their second conference matchup of the 2017-18 campaign. Duke seeks to rebound from its surprising 89-84 defeat at the hands of Boston College in its first ACC game. The Blue Zone gives three keys for the Blue Devils to come out on top:
Feature freshman bigs
Duke’s frontcourt duo of Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter Jr. is clearly among the best in the country. The pair of freshmen average nearly 35 points per game and shoot an incredibly efficient 62 percent clip from the field on 22.1 field goal attempts per contest.
But in Boston College’s shocking victory against the Blue Devils on Dec. 9, Bagley and Carter combined for 25 points on only 19 shot attempts. Bagley only took one shot inside the arc in the second half and scored just five points in the final 28 minutes after scoring 10 in the first 12.
Although the low usage of Bagley and Carter was certainly not the sole contributing factor to the Blue Devils’ sole loss of the season—the Eagles shot lights out from deep—it is important to keep the duo heavily involved. The Duke frontcourt’s rare combination of size, athleticism, and skill needs to be an emphasis for head coach Mike Krzyzewski and Co. in order for the team to secure its first conference win.
Take high efficiency shots
In the 2017-18 season, Florida State has held opponents to a paltry .369 field goal percentage, good for the sixth-best rate in the nation. Although this may be skewed by the Seminoles’ easy schedule thus far—they rank just No. 214 in strength of schedule according to RPI—Florida State yielded just a .362 field goal percentage in its 83-66 conquest over Florida, a team that Duke narrowly beat 87-84.
In order to succeed against the Seminoles’ defense, the Blue Devils need to focus on getting their most efficient looks. Duke leads the country in team assists on the year, and must continue this strong ball movement. In particular, freshman guard Trevon Duval needs to focus on driving to the basket and distributing to his teammates—both areas he excels in—and stop shooting from beyond the arc, where he shoots a dismal 15.2 percent while taking the third-most attempts of all Blue Devils.
Shore up the perimeter defense
Boston College’s upset against then top-ranked Duke was powered by an astronomical 15 3-pointers made at a 57.7 percent clip. In the Blue Devils’ subsequent contest against Evansville, who led the nation in 3-point percentage entering the game, they held the Purple Aces to shoot just 5-of-14 from deep in their 104-40 rout.
Evidently, Mike Krzyzewski stressed perimeter defense in the 11 days of preparation between their matchups with Boston College and Evansville. The game plan appeared to be successful, and there likely was a continued focus on defending the 3-pointer, Duke’s primary weakness, in the 10 days the Blue Devils had preceding their home contest against Florida State.
The Seminoles aren't the nation's top 3-point shooting team, but they do boast five shooters with at least 13 made 3-pointers this season. They used to be a team that would lean on its size, but now they are a perimeter-oriented team—and an undersized one, compared to Duke. If the Blue Devils can Florida State's open looks behind the arc, they are likely to secure their first ACC win.
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