The seventh-ranked Blue Devils will hit the road for a marquee showdown with No. 9 Florida State Tuesday in Tallahassee, Fla., looking to snap the Seminoles' 11-game winning streak. Here are three keys to the game for Duke:
Force the ball out of Dwayne Bacon's hands
Florida State's sophomore guard is one of the best scorers in the ACC, averaging 18.1 points per game on 48.1 percent shooting through 16 contests. The Blue Devils must blanket him with suffocating defense and force someone else to make a play. They cannot let Bacon be the one to beat them, and although he can score the ball well, he isn't much of a passer. He only has 25 assists so far this season, failing to reach even five in any single game, and he only had 50 last season. When the offense isn't running through him, it can fizzle out. The Duke backcourt has its work cut out, but if it can deny Bacon the ball, good things will happen.
Strong defense from Jayson Tatum
Nobody is doubting Tatum's offensive skillset. The 6-foot-8 freshman has a rare, polished mid-range game in a sport that is increasingly favoring the 3-point shot. However, he has not been heralded thus far as an elite defender despite showing flashes of potential.
He will have to turn that potential into real defensive grit if the Blue Devils favor a small lineup with Tatum playing the four and he matches up against Florida State's forward Jonathan Isaac. The 6-foot-10 freshman has a wingspan of more than seven feet and would undoubtedly present Tatum's toughest matchup to date. If Tatum is able to stay in front of Isaac and stand his ground, he will prove to truly be a two-way player and allow the starting guards to focus on keeping Bacon quiet on the perimeter.
Continue to pound the paint
One of the reasons that the Blue Devils got off to a hot start this season despite injuries to three key freshmen was the solid play of graduate student forward Amile Jefferson. Coming off a season cut short by a fractured foot, Jefferson has come storming back, averaging a double-double and leading Duke both as a rim protector and as the go-to option in the post. But with him out Tuesday with a bone bruise he suffered Saturday against Boston College, the Blue Devils will look to freshmen big men Harry Giles and Marques Bolden to fill the void Jefferson will leave.
Despite Bolden not seeing much playing time and Giles still trying to get back into shape after recovering from surgery, both will be expected to step up in Jefferson's absence since other options like Chase Jeter have not proven to be reliable so far. Duke must be able to maintain its identity of getting to the rim and playing in the post without its leading rebounder.
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