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Duke Basketball: Blue Devils, ‘Noles in battle of ranked teams in Florida

By Kevin Connelly

TALLAHASSEE, FL - JANUARY 12: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils warms up prior to the game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Duke Blue Devils at Donald L. Tucker Center on January 12, 2019 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - JANUARY 12: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils warms up prior to the game between the Florida State Seminoles and the Duke Blue Devils at Donald L. Tucker Center on January 12, 2019 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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The Duke Basketball team has traveled to Tallahassee to take on the Florida State Seminoles and the game has reached halftime between the two Top-15 teams.

Coach K went with the normal starting five in Tre Jones, Cam Reddish, R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson and Javin DeLaurier.

With a sold out crowd at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, the Blue Devils have a tall task at hand getting a conference road win in a hostile environment.

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Both teams were maybe a little too excited for this game to start, but once both Duke and Florida State settled into the rhythm of the game, the Blue Devils seemed to be the far superior team, however after a 10-0 run Florida State took a 39-38 lead into halftime.

It was a tough start for Zion Williamson as he picked up a foul in the first 30 seconds of the game, but he was able to maintain his composure for the remainder of the half, finishing the first 20 minutes with 11 points and eight rebounds and only the one foul.

Williamson did have to leave the first half with just over a minute to go after getting poked in the eye while driving to the basket. No foul was called.

However, R.J. Barrett led the way for the Blue Devils with 13 points and two rebounds.

A welcome sight for Duke fans was seeing the activity and aggression from Cam Reddish. Reddish finished the first half with seven points.

Tre Jones struggled with his shot, only making two of his eight attempts, but he was still able to be a force on defense with two steals and creating offense with an assist.

The Seminoles have shown that they will not back down from this Duke team and the Blue Devils must show that same toughness no matter how large the lead grows.

For continued success in the second half, the Blue Devils must continue create turnovers in order to get out in transition and in the half court, set ball screens and drive the ball to the basket.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham on Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the Florida State Seminoles. 

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