Vegas is betting on Duke to beat NC State in ACC tournament. What Duke must do to win
Duke, the No. 4 seed in the ACC tournament, No. 5 seed N.C. State in the quarterfinals on Thursday at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The 10th-ranked Blue Devils (25-6) are an 8-point favorite in the game (over-under is set at 152.5), which will begin around 3 p.m. and be televised by ESPN.
N.C. State (20-12) stayed alive in the tournament by beating No. 13 seed Pittsburgh 73-58 on Wednesday.
In the regular season, Duke and N.C. State split two games, both winning on their home courts. The Wolfpack smacked Duke 88-66 in Raleigh on Feb. 19 before the Blue Devils rolled past NC State 88-69 on March 2 in Durham.
Here are three things the Blue Devils must do to advance to Friday night’s ACC tournament semifinals:
Get out in transition
Duke is at its best offensively when it gets the ball up the court quickly before opposing defenses can get set up. Many times that comes when Duke’s defense forces turnovers — Blue Devil opponents turn the ball over roughly once for every five possessions. But Duke also needs to force the tempo off missed shots, getting the ball in the capable hands of ACC player of the year Tre Jones so he can get the ball to teammates in prime scoring positions.
Get someone in front of NC State’s driving ballhandlers
When the Wolfpack blistered the Blue Devils in Raleigh, senior guard Markell Johnson led the way with 28 points while 6-foot-5 junior Devon Daniels scored 25. DJ Funderburk contributed 21 as N.C. State easily found gaps in Duke’s defense to get shots in the lane. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski switched from traditional man-to-man to zone defense midway through the first half of the rematch and stymied the Wolfpack. With the driving lanes cut off, N.C. State settled for 3-pointers and made just 5 of 21 (23 percent) at Cameron.
Sharing is caring
Duke needs to pass the ball well, and be patient when it is in half-court sets, for its offense to be as effective as possible. The best example is in the Blue Devils’ most recent game, an 89-76 win over North Carolina last Friday. Duke collected 19 assists on its 25 field goals, a 76 percent assist clip. The Blue Devils have assists on 52.1 percent of their field goals this season. In Duke’s 52-50 loss at Virginia on Feb. 29, the Blue Devils collected just four assists — a 22.2 percent assist clip.
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 7:56 PM.