2009 ACC Tournament Preview: Florida St. Vs Duke

2009 ACC Tournament Finals Preview - Florida State vs Duke. Nr 22 Florida State was able to take advantage of the absence of Ty Lawson , and upset the Nr 1 North Carolina Tar Heels, 73-70 to make it to the 2009 ACC tournament finals on Sunday, March 15th against the Nr 8 Duke Blue Devils (27-6). Duke was able to hold off a very strong Maryland team, 67-61, to make it to the ACC tournament final. Both teams are locks at making the NCAA tournament, but the victor will claim rights to a higher seed in the NCAA tournament, though Duke may still end up at only a Nr 2 seed after dropping the season finale to North Carolina.

2009 SEC Tournament Preview - Florida State

Toney Douglas led the Seminoles with 27 points and exceeded his 20.9 ppg team-leading average just when Florida State needed it. Solomon Alabi and Derwin Kitchen each chipped in with 11 points in the win over North Carolina. Earlier in the season, Florida State lost to the Tar Heels on a last second Ty Lawson three pointer, but held on to win this go around. One thing in their favor against Duke on Sunday is although they lost both regular season matchups against the Blue Devils, they only lost the last game to Duke by 3 points , 84-81. It should prove much tougher for the Blue Devils to beat the Seminoles for a third time this seas, especially with State surging.

2009 SEC Tournament Preview - Duke

Duke is led by Forward Kyle Singler and Guards Gerald Henderson Jon Scheyer. Jon Scheyer led the Blue Devils with 22 points over Maryland in the ACC semi-final game and Kyle Singler chipped in with 14 points. The Blue Devils will need big games from all three players against Florida State if they are going to beat the Seminoles for a third time this season. A key to the Blue Devils winning will be their defense in the transition game and keeping Toney Douglas contained.

2009 ACC Tournament Preview - Prediction

The championship game is going to be a battle of back courts. Both teams will be looking to get ahead early and establish control over the game. If Duke can hit their free throws against Florida State, they should win the game Final score prediction: Duke Blue Devils 76 - Florida State Seminoles 65.

Refs:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=290730150 (Fl St win over UNC)
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=290730150 (Duke win over Maryland)
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/clubhouse?teamId=52
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/clubhouse?teamId=150
http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/Mens/NCAA/March_Madness/Final_Four/florida-state-upends-no-1-unc-in-acc-semis (Fl St Win over UNC)
http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/Mens/NCAA/March_Madness/Final_Four/north-carolina-tar-heels-ty-lawson-sits-out-vs-florida-state-seminoles
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/clubhouse?teamId=52
http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/duke-blue-devils/