Duke holds on for win at Florida State
For the second time in as many ACC games, Duke spent more time trailing than playing with a lead.
And for the second time, the Blue Devils squeezed out a win.
Duke won 91-87 against Florida State on Saturday at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center. Sophomore Isaiah Evans scored a career-high 28 points and Cameron Boozer dished out a season-best nine assists, along with 17 points and five rebounds.
The Blue Devils (13-1, 2-0 ACC) trailed Georgia Tech for about 18 minutes on Wednesday, and led that game for about 16½ minutes. At FSU, it was nearly 20 minutes playing from behind and 17 minutes with the lead.
Back-and-forth affairs to start ACC play. Both GT and FSU’s largest leads were seven points.
But it’s also not like Duke inspires much confidence by grinding it out against two teams that combined for 10 non-conference losses. With Duke’s next game being a trip to Louisville, the Blue Devils will have to find a gear they haven’t shown since the win at Michigan State.
More than half of FSU’s shots came from beyond the 3-point line, as expected. The Seminoles went 14-for-30 (46.7%) from 3-point territory, getting four apiece from Chauncey Wiggins and Kobe MaGee.
Duke led for the last 13 minutes of the game. The lead peaked at nine, though, and FSU narrowed it to a one-score game twice in the final minute.
The Blue Devils were 23-for-25 at the free-throw line, including 6-for-6 in the final 30 seconds. Those were two each by Evans, Boozer and Caleb Foster.
Tip-ins …
– That 92% clip at the free-throw line is about 32 percentage points better than Duke’s last two games. The Blue Devils were a combined 41-for-64 (64.1%) in the past two games (against Texas Tech and GT).
– Freshman Dame Sarr scored 13 points on 4-for-5 shooting, including three 3-pointers. It’s the first time he’s scored double-figure points since Duke’s win against Indiana State on Nov. 14.
– Wiggins and Robert McCray V led FSU with 22 points apiece. McCray scored 18 of those in the second half.
– Duke made 12 of 27 3-pointers (44.4%). Evans made half of them, with Sarr and Foster hitting three each.
So, a couple of 3s fewer than FSU and a couple of percentage points worse. But it’s the first time Duke made above 40% of its 3-pointers since hitting 17 of 33 against Niagara on Nov. 21.
