Ridiculous first-half three-point shooting by the Devils, coupled with a Pack-esque cold streak by the Noles late in the first half and into the second half, determined the outcome of this one long before the final buzzer. But like most Duke games, they got VERY three-happy, refusing to do anything but stand outside and jack up jumpers... and when they stopped going down (no, Skeletor, your team won't hit 70% from out there for the game), FSU had a chance to cut into the lead. Fortunately for Duke, FSU's 2-for-20'something stretch kept it from mattering.
Duke finished the game with... let's see here, 1, 2, 3, 4... that's it? Four turnovers? For an entire game??? And two of those were in garbage time when it no longer mattered. Couple that with pretty stout offensive rebounding, particularly in the first thirty minutes, and you get an old-fashioned butt-whipping. Don't let the final score fool you - it wasn't that close.
Four Factors eFG% 51.7 Turnover Rate 6.4 Off Reb Rate 31.6 FTA/FGA 44.8 FSU
Four Factors eFG% 56.1 Turnover Rate 20.0 Off Reb Rate 22.2 FTA/FGA 38.8
Toney Douglas had a pretty forgettable day, after starting off strong. He never seemed to be able to get into the flow of the offense, alternating between forcing bad shots and not getting touches on some possessions because, quite honestly, his teammates looked tired of watching him gun it up.
At the end of the day, the better team won. But if Duke goes into the NCAA's (as they normally do) thinking they're going to win a title by standing outside and firing 3's, they'll be out (as they normally are) by the second weekend.
This article was originally published at http://sectionsix.blogspot.com. If you are interested in sharing your website's content with SCACCHoops.com, Contact Us.Lots of Brackets, Not Enough Time To Analyze the Matchups? Let BracketBrains Help You Win Your Bracket Contest!
Original Story:
