The #1 ranked Duke Blue Devils (15-0, 2-0) bring their 25 game winning streak to
Duke plays basketball to win, as they outspend FSU 3-1, and most other teams in the ACC at least 2-1. They have great facilities, an elite coaching staff, and the best talent in the conference. The Blue Devils have five consensus top-20 recruits where the rest of the ACC has seven combined. One of those – freshman Kyrie Irving – is out with a toe injury. Two others – seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith – are on their farewell tour. Both are moving up the career stat charts at Duke, and Singler, barring injury, will finish as one of the top four scorers in school history, and will return sometime next year to have his #12 jersey hung from the rafters.
The state of
Unfortunately for the ACC Duke doesn’t slow down on the defensive end. In a defensive conference which has 4 elite defensive teams, Duke may be the best of them (the others are FSU,
In short, FSU is in trouble. I’d like to predict the game plan but FSU’s rotation has been seemingly random of late, so the only guarantee is that Chris Singleton and Derwin Kitchen will get minutes, and that Terrance Shannon’s haircut will get attention. Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess. The only real defensive weakness for Duke is allowing offensive boards, and FSU grabs almost 40% of their missed shots. Otherwise FSU is obviously going to have a great game (relative to expectations) on the offensive end. Currently the Noles shoot 33% from 3, 66% from the line, and turn the ball over on 24% of their possessions. If their line looks like that tonight then they lose, regardless of defensive performance.
Pomeroy has Duke by 12 (87% win), though Vegas has a surprisingly soft line of Duke -8.5. Typically Pomeroy and Vegas are within a point and a half of each other. The game tips at 9pm on ESPN and is sold out.