Beyond the Arc: Duke basketball vs Florida State

The Duke offense was back in form Thursday night, as the No. 15 Blue Devils defeated Florida State 80-65 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke took an 11-point lead going into the half and never looked back, continuing to take advantage of the Seminoles' turnovers and executing on the offensive end. 

Revisiting the three keys to the game

• Contain the Seminoles' sensational backcourt: Dwayne Bacon, Malik Beasley and Xavier Rathan-Mayes combined for 34 points on 13-for-30 shooting. But they also committed 15 turnovers that led to 16 Duke points. More importantly, the trio struggled on the defensive end and could not contain guard Matt Jones and sophomore Grayson Allen. Although Florida State may have had the advantage in highlight-plays with Beasley's first-half dunk, the Seminoles' backcourt did not play nearly well enough for the team to come away with a big road victory. 
• Take care of the basketball: The Blue Devils committed only five turnovers against Florida State, including only one in the first half. With Jones and freshman Derryck Thornton back healthy, Duke had little trouble getting good looks against a porous Florida State defense. The Blue Devil offense executed at a much-higher level than recent games as Duke relied less on one-on-one play and moved the ball better. 
• Share the burden: Although Thornton picked up his fourth foul within a minute of the second half, the Blue Devils made way just fine with their seven-man rotation. Both Allen and Ingram played all 40 minutes without picking up a foul and with four days rest, the Blue Devils did not let up late.

Three key moments

• 11:00 remaining, first half: With Duke down two, Jones gets on the scoreboard with an open triple. The shot got the offense going, leading to nine points in just over two minutes. Including the junior's jumper, the Blue Devils finished the first half on a 31-16 run. 
• 17:02 remaining, second half: Following a missed dunk by center Marshall Plumlee and a miss by Ingram, Kennard grabs an offensive board and sails under the arm of a defender for an old-fashioned 3-point play. The play was representative of the home team's dominance on the offensive glass all night and put some separation on the scoreboard after Duke's lead was cut to 11. 
• 8:55 remaining, second half: Plumlee blocks Florida State's Jarquez Smith, collects the rebound and draws a foul from Terance Mann. The big man hit one of two from the charity stripe to help extend the Blue Devil lead to a game-high 17 points. 

Three key stats

• Florida State commits eight first-half turnovers: The Blue Devils shot worse than Florida State in the first half, but took control of the game thanks to turnovers. Duke took 14 more shots than its opponent in the first 20 minutes, going on to outscore the Seminoles and jump ahead early. Finishing with only one first-half turnover was a relief for a Duke team that committed 18 in total against Louisville last weekend. 
• Duke posts 34 points in the paint and grabs 34 rebounds: Both these statistics were only two less than the respective totals for Florida State. Freshman Chase Jeter posted one of his strongest showings of the season, grabbing five rebounds and scoring three points in the first half. Plumlee was steady once again and finished with another double-double.
• Five Blue Devils reach double-figures: Allen got things going early, but Luke Kennard quickly got hot off the bench to help Duke's offense. Jones finished 3-of-7 from deep, and Plumlee tallied 13 points. Against a poor defense, five Blue Devils scored more than 10 points for only the second time in ACC play. The balanced scoring was especially important after the team featured only one player in double-figures Saturday against Louisville.

And the Duke game ball goes to… Matt Jones