FSU Basketball: 3 reasons Noles can beat Duke in ACC Tournament
By Kelvin Hunt
Defense
FSU is one of the better defensive teams in the nation. They hold teams to 40 percent shooting on average.
The Noles have capable shot blockers in Christ Koumadje and Mfiondu Kabengele with both averaging nearly two blocks per game and over four blocks per game as a team.
FSU averages over seven steals per game with a lot of those steals resulting in transition buckets for the offense.
They had eight steals against Duke in the first matchup. FSU is playing much better defensively since that game and put the clamps on Virginia with pressure the entire game Friday night.
Duke essentially has three scorers who are all freshman in Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish.
I expect the length and size of FSU to give Duke problems as they will not be able to take the ball consistently to the rack the way they did against UNC.
That’s why they had to rely on some many three-pointers in the first matchup with FSU post seven blocks in that first game.