FSU basketball travels to Duke

In January Florida State easily beat Duke in Tallahassee, but the Blue Devils were short-handed that night (with just seven consensus 5*s), playing without senior Amile Jefferson, and without head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Fast forward seven weeks and No. 17 Duke may be without Jefferson again, who re-injured his foot, as well as junior guard Grayson Allen (ankle).

Both are game time decisions.

Florida State, meanwhile, is as healthy this late in the season as they’ve been in many years. The continuity of the starters and bench depth has been key to their 23-6 (11-5) start.

In Duke’s most recent game, Jefferson missed much of the 2nd half and Allen sat the entire game, and the Blue Devils struggled in a 55-50 loss at Miami. They scored just 0.81 points per possession (their lowest in five years). Until that point, their loss at FSU had been their worst offensive game of the year.

The key in the first matchup was that FSU was able to dominate on the glass. The Seminoles rebounded 41% of their own misses and shot 58% inside the arc.

The situation with Allen and Jefferson could put more pressure on Luke Kennard and Jayson Tatum. Kennard leads the team at 19.1 ppg and in ACC play he’s made 48% of his 3s. The freshman Tatum is scoring 16.1 per game.

In the first game, they scored 44 of Duke’s 72 points.

The game tips at 7 PM and will be broadcast on ESPN2. There is no Vegas line due to the uncertain status of Grayson Allen and Amile Jefferson.