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A Top 3 ACC offense deals with a Top 5 NCAA defense in a fight of marquee star vs. group Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET. The 24th-ranked Florida State Seminoles, led by remarkable freshman guard Ta’Niya Latson, fight the 16th-ranked Duke Blue Devils, who are 8-1 versus conference competitors.
In beating the 12th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies on Thursday, Duke revealed that defense wins in the NCAA, holding predicted Top 10 WNBA choice Elizabeth Kitley to 4 points in 35 minutes, playing definitely swarming defense in the last 5 minutes. The Blue Devils ran an aggressive full-court press near completion of the video game, requiring the Hokies to play far from Kitley and battle to enter into their offending sets.
This aggressive defense has actually paid dividends for the Blue Devils, who are 13-1 in the last 2 months. A beautiful mind-blowing stat about Duke’s defense this season is that in the last 2 months, the Blue Devils have actually not quit more than 70 points in a video game. This swarming defense has actually been their calling card all season and it will be amazing to see them bet the vibrant Seminole offense.
Florida State presently has a Top 25 offense in all of college basketball. Led by Latson, who is 6th in the NCAA in points per video game, the Seminoles have actually emerged from the rain gutter to climb up into the AP Top 25 for the very first time all season.
In Thursday’s loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Seminoles did battle to produce quality looks versus the Irish half court defense. Notre Dame face-guarded Latson the whole video game, and while she had the ability to produce some excellent appearances, they weren’t constant enough. Florida State is not an excellent 3-point shooting group, however it tries one of the most 3s in the whole ACC. Even with that being stated, the Seminoles shot 13 percent listed below their season average from behind the arc.
The Seminoles had fantastic success in the very first half developing quality looks when they played in shift, which will be essential to their success versus another aggressive protective group in Duke. It’s genuinely a contrast in offending approaches: Florida State will aim to press the pace (fastest speed in the ACC); the Blue Devils will aim to decrease the video game (third-slowest speed in the ACC) and force gamers aside from Latson to beat them. Expect a low-scoring, protective slugfest in between 2 vibrant Top 25 groups.
Game details
No. 16 Duke Blue Devils (18-2, 8-1 ACC) vs. No. 24 Florida State Seminoles (18-5, 7-3 ACC)
When: Sunday, Jan 29 at 2 p.m. ET
Where: Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, FL
How to see: ACC Network
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