No. 9 Blue Devils Set for Saturday Showdown vs. Seminoles

Saturday, February 19

Durham, N.C.

6 P.M.

Duke University

Florida State

No. 9 Blue Devils Set for Saturday Showdown vs. Seminoles

2/17/2022 11:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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THE OPENING TIP

Looking to stay in first place in the ACC, No. 9 Duke welcomes Florida State to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a Saturday night showdown.
The game tips at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN with Bob Wischusen and Debbie Antonelli on the call. On the radio locally, David Shumate and John Roth call the action on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield.
The Blue Devils have won eight of their last nine, including five straight ACC road wins. Duke is in a first-place tie in the ACC and holds the tiebreaker over five of the seven teams within 4.5 games.
Duke is looking to even the season series after Florida State pulled off a 79-78 win in overtime in Tallahassee on Jan. 18.
The Blue Devils lead the all-time series 41-11 over the Seminoles and have won 22 of the 24 games played at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Leading the ACC in both field goal defense (.403) and three-point defense (.296), the Blue Devils have allowed opponents to shoot .280 from three-point range since Jan. 1 (80-of-286) -- the second best three-point defense by power conference teams in that span.
Duke is 26th nationally this season in defending the three-point line (.296), 36th in field goal defense (.403), 12th in blocked shots (5.5) and seventh in scoring margin (+14.7) -- leads ACC in each category.
Duke has held 11 of its last 15 opponents -- and 17 for the season -- to .300 or worse from behind the arc (14-3 in those games).
Sophomore Mark Williams, whose tip-in dunk was the game-winner against Wake Forest with 0.4 seconds, is averaging 14.5 points and shooting 24-of-30 (.800) from the field over the last four games.
A finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, Williams leads the ACC and ranks 12th nationally in blocked shots. He is also the nation's only player shooting .700+ from the field and .700+ at the free throw line (minimum 100 field goal attempts).
This week's ACC Freshman of the Week, Trevor Keels is averaging 13.6 points and has made nine of his last 18 from three-point range.
Duke is 15-1 this season when Keels scores in double digits.
Six-time ACC Freshman of the Week and the ACC's lone representative on the late-season watch list for the Wooden Award, Paolo Banchero leads all power conference true freshman in scoring (16.9), is second in rebounding (8.5) and second in double-doubles (eight).

DUKE VS. FLORIDA STATE
Duke is 41-11 all-time versus Florida State, which includes a 22-2 mark in home games -- all coming at Cameron Indoor Stadium … The last five games in the series have been decided by a total of 30 points (6.0 per game). That includes Duke's win on Feb. 10, 2020, 70-65, at Cameron Indoor and an 80-78 win in Tallahassee on Jan. 12, 2019 thanks to Cam Reddish's three in the final seconds … Duke and FSU clashed for the 2019 ACC Tournament title -- a 73-63 Duke win behind 21 points from Zion Williamson … Under Coach K, the Blue Devils are 38-10 in the series … The teams had a pair of meetings canceled last season by COVID-19 protocols -- at FSU on Jan. 2 and in the ACC Tournament quarters … FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton has 186 ACC wins (regular season and tournament) to rank fifth all-time behind Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith, Roy Williams and Gary Williams.

LAST MEETING: FSU 79, DUKE 78 (OT)
Duke rallied from a nine-point deficit with under seven minutes left in the second half to force overtime, but a Wendell Moore Jr., attempt in the final seconds was blocked to give Florida State a 79-78 victory on Jan. 19 at the Tucker Center in Tallahassee … Duke took a 67-65 lead with 30 seconds left thanks to a Mark Williams' dunk that capped a 17-6 run, but a RayQuan Evans bucket with 1.6 seconds left sent the game to overtime. Duke led 76-74 with 60 seconds left in OT, before FSU scored five of the final seven points … Freshman Paolo Banchero posted a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Williams added 15 on 6-of-8 shooting … Duke played the final 10 minutes without freshman Trevor Keels, who suffered a lower leg injury that kept him out of the next three games.

SCOUTING THE SEMINOLES
Florida State is 14-11 overall, 7-8 in the ACC and coming off an 81-80 home victory over Clemson that snapped a six-game skid … The banged-up Seminoles have been without a number of key players due to injury, including Anthony Polite, Malik Osborne, Naheem McLeod. Caleb Mills also did not play in FSU's last game … Caleb Mills is the team's leading scorer at 12.7 points and shooting .430 from the field and .372 from three-point range. RayQuan Evans leads the team in assists (2.9), while scoring 8.4 points … Florida State leads the ACC in steals (9.1), ranks second in offensive rebounds (11.3), ranks third in the conference in turnover margin (+2.64) and third in blocks (4.36).

ON THIS DATE
Duke is 20-11 all-time when playing on Feb. 19 and has won eight of the last nine games … Duke last played at home on this date in 2006 -- a 92-71 win over Miami.

WILLIAMS: THE NATION'S ONLY 70/70 PLAYER
Sophomore Mark Williams is the only player in the country shooting better than .700 from the field and better than .700 from the free throw line this season (min. 100 field goal attempts) … The 7-foot-1 center that possesses a 7-foot-7 wingspan is also one of the nation's best rim protectors, averaging 2.96 blocks per game to lead the ACC and rank 12th nationally … His 22 multi-blocks games this season are tied for lead by power conference players … The .717 field goal percentage this season would lead the nation, but Williams falls just short of the minimum five field goals per game to qualify (4.5) … Williams is also on pace for one of the best single-season field goal shooting efforts in Duke history, currently ranking second on the list behind only Christian Laettner's .723 in 1989 … Williams, whose tip-in dunk was the game-winner against Wake Forest with 0.4 seconds, is averaging 14.5 points and shooting 24-of-30 (.800) from the field over the last four games … Williams' KenPom offensive rating of 137.6 is the best of any player nationally (min. 15% of possessions used) … His 65 dunks are fourth most in a season at Duke.

BANCHERO POURING IT ON
A Blue Devil has been the ACC's freshman scoring leader in seven of the last eight seasons and eight of the last 10 … Freshman Paolo Banchero is looking to keep that run going in 2021-22, as the six-time ACC Freshman of the Week leads all true freshman nationally in scoring (16.9) and is second among true freshman in rebounding (8.5) … His eight double-doubles are the second-most among power conference true freshmen and ranked third in the ACC … Duke is 11-2 this season when Banchero leads the team in scoring … Of his nine 20-point games this season, seven have come against power conference teams -- six in ACC play -- in addition to 21 points in the win over Gonzaga in Las Vegas … Over his last 10 games, the Seattle native is averaging a double-double with 15.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists … He has reached double figures in all but once this season and has 15+ points in all but four ACC games … Banchero had a career-high 15 boards at Louisville on Jan. 29 to go with 11 points for his fifth double-double, while his sixth double-double came at North Carolina with 13 points and 10 rebounds … He nearly had his first triple-double vs. The Citadel, with a career-high 28 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

SHARING AND SHOOTING THE ROCK
Duke enters the game with the nation's seventh best assist/turnover ratio of 1.59. The Blue Devils also rank top 20 nationally in field goal shooting (.482, ranked 17th in the NCAA) and assists (17.1, lead the ACC and ranked 10th in the NCAA) … Duke has had a positive assist/turnover ratio in 21 of 26 games … The Blue Devils posted their best assist percentage in the Jan. 22 win over Syracuse, dishing out 25 assists on 30 made field goals (83 percent). Duke's 25 assists were an ACC season high and matched its season best (25 vs. The Citadel) … Duke has assists on at least half of its field goals in a game 20 times this season, including in nine of the last 11 games … For the season, Duke is assisting on 58 percent of its field goals -- the second best percentage in the ACC (Virginia) and 44th nationally.

ON THE DEFENSIVE
Since January 1, Duke opponents are shooting just .280 (80-of-286) from three-point range -- the second best percentage defense by power conference teams and 14th best overall in that span … For the year, Duke is 26th nationally in three-point defense (.296) -- was 119th nationally (.314) on December 31 … Duke leads the ACC in both field goal defense (.403) and three-point defense (.296) -- on pace for top-five single-season performances in the Coach K era at Duke … Duke has held 11 of its last 14 opponents -- and 17 for the season -- to .300 or worse from behind the arc (14-3 in those games) … Duke has held 18 of its 26 opponents this season -- including eight of the last nine -- to 70 points or less … Junior Wendell Moore Jr., is one of the nation's premier perimeter defenders, regularly drawing the opponent's best offensive match up. This season, opponents are shooting just .310 from the field and .253 from three-point range with Moore as the primary defender … Sophomore Mark Williams, who leads the league and is 12th nationally in blocked shots (2.96), is one of the best rim protectors with his 7-foot-7 wingspan … Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, Virginia and Boston College each made their fewest number of threes of the season against the Blue Devils … The three-point percentages by Gardner-Webb, Lafayette, Syracuse, VT, Wake and ND were each their lowest this year … In Duke's defensive gem at Notre Dame, the Irish were limited to a season-low 43 points, and it marked the fewest points Duke allowed in an ACC game since a 68-40 win over Clemson on Jan. 8, 2013. It was the fewest points Duke allowed in an ACC road game since a 56-41 win at Virginia on Feb. 16, 2011.

CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM
Duke has posted an all-time record of 929-170 (.845) at Cameron Indoor, including 571-74 (.884) under Coach K … Duke is 264-64 (.805) in ACC regular-season games at Cameron Indoor in the Coach K era … Duke has won more games at its current home venue than any team in college basketball … Now in its 83rd season as the home of the Blue Devils, Duke has averaged 11.1 wins since the venue opened January 6, 1940 -- a 36-27 win over Princeton … The Blue Devils have 18 undefeated home seasons, including 11 under Coach K.

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