Duke at Florida State: 2023-24 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

Saturday afternoon will mark the 35th meeting between the Florida State Seminoles and Duke Blue Devils as they'll square off in ACC action as part of ESPN's afternoon slate. While the Seminoles will look to play spoiler, the Blue Devils will look to keep a winning streak alive since falling to rival UNC.

TV schedule: Saturday, February 17, 2:00 pm ET. ESPN

Arena: Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, Florida

It will be the Blue Devils' first visit to Tallahassee since the Seminoles squeezed out a 79-78 overtime victory back on January 18, 2022. A lot has changed since then, though it's worth noting, Florida State holds a 6-9 record against Duke at home while they're just 4-15 against them at Cameron Indoor.

The Blue Devils are riding the wave of their frontcourt duo of Kyle Filipowski and Mark Mitchell heading into Saturday. Filipowski and Mitchell combined for 44 points, 19 rebounds, and four blocks in Duke's 77-69 victory over Wake Forest on Monday night. Mitchell averaged 14.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest in January while Filipowski continues to put together his case for ACC Player of the Year. Freshman Jared McCain has come on strong on the rebounding front as well with 10 rebounds along with 17 points on three made 3-pointers. He's recorded double-figures in rebounds in four of their last five conference games.

Duke got some breathing room in the ACC standings with their victory over the Demon Deacons as they remain at second place at 10-3 heading into Saturday afternoon. Offensive struggles of Caleb Foster didn't slow them down much in their last victory and if anything, it was more of a learning experience for the freshman, as he still logged 26 minutes. Look for Foster to have a much better outing off the bench against Florida State.

Florida State, on the other hand, has a bit of a hill to climb to get back into ACC relevancy. The Seminoles have lost four of their last five games including their last two games in a row to Virginia and Virginia Tech. While falling to Louisville on the road 101-92 has been their biggest blemish in February so far.

The Seminoles started the ACC slate on a high note back in January, reeling off five-straight victories to sit at 5-1 at one point in the season. Since then, they've gone 2-5 and currently sit at fifth in the conference standings at 7-6. A victory over the Blue Devils would certainly ignite their season and potentially boost their hopes of a late winning-streak to wrap up their conference schedule, but Duke is surging.

Darin Green Jr. and Jamir Watkins are both shooting the ball impressively from behind the arc in ACC action, but Duke's ability to defend the floor and turn defense into offense has been their calling card. The Seminoles should put up a good fight, but the Blue Devils have more than enough of their own firepower to deal with all of it.

Prediction: Duke 86, Florida 75