TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- They say free-throw shooting can be the difference in a basketball game, but Wednesday night's game between Duke and Florida State took that adage to a new level.
In the Blue Devils' 84-72 victory over FSU in the Leon County Civic Center, Duke attempted 37 free throws to the Seminoles' seven. The Blue Devils, who trailed 45-40 at halftime, used a strong second-half surge and solid foul-shooting to improve to 20-3, 11-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Florida State dropped to 12-12, 5-9 in the ACC. Duke is now one game-and-a-half ahead of second-place UNC in the ACC standings.
After the game, Florida State head coach Pat Kennedy was upset by the imbalance in fouls called, but he was not ready to blame the loss on foul-shooting alone.
"One disturbing stat was that, at one point, the foul shots were 28 to one [in favor of Duke]," Kennedy said. "[But] I don't want to take anything away from Duke, because they are a great team."
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski was not about to apologize for the difference in chances at the line.
"We're not a jump-shooting team," Krzyzewski said. "We've always attacked the basket. If you look at our season statistics, you'll see that we always shoot more free throws than our opponents."
Despite the controversy over the officiating, the two teams played a close, hard-fought game for much of the evening.
The Seminoles led the entire first half after taking an early 5-3 lead. They were sparked by the strong play of freshman James Collins, who hit 6-of-8 first-half shots for 13 points, and senior point guard Charlie Ward, who had 11 in the opening frame.
The Blue Devils, though, hung tough and did not allow FSU to pull away. Senior Marty Clark came off the bench and provided a spark with seven first-half points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field.
Chris Collins also had seven at intermission, including a key three-pointer after the Seminoles had just taken a 27-23 lead on a three by Scott Shepherd. The FSU fans had become excited, but Collins came back with the trey of his own to quiet the crowd of 10,645.
One of the keys to the Seminoles' 45-40 halftime lead was a 24-13 rebounding edge that resulted in several second-chance points. What made this margin on the boards impressive was the fact that FSU played with a four-guard lineup almost the entire game, with the 6-4 Collins starting in place of power forward Maurice Robinson. FSU also shot 51 percent from the field in the first half -- uncharacteristically high against Duke's usually tough defense.
After the break, FSU seemed to lose its edge. This was the Seminoles' fourth game in seven days, and all five of their starters played over 36 minutes. FSU appeared tired, and as Kennedy said, "Duke's a team that can play a 40-minute game as well as anybody."
Duke also seemed to pick its play up after Kennedy was assessed a technical foul with 15:20 left in the second half. At the time, Duke was behind 51-49. The Blue Devils then went on an 8-2 run in the next three minutes and a 19-6 run over the next 10 minutes.
Along with the technical, the Seminoles were hurt when center Andre Reid picked up his fourth personal foul with over 13 minutes remaining. Reid sat the bench for much of the half before fouling out for the 10th time this season. FSU is now 2-8 in games he has not finished this year; 10-4 in the others.
The Blue Devils earned the 12-point victory despite the fact that their leading scorer, Grant Hill, scored only nine points while shooting 3-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-9 from the line. Hill still nearly managed a triple-double with 10 rebounds and nine assists, but he struggled with his shot all night.
Hill still played a major role in putting the game away. With about 4:30 to go, Hill fed Duke center Cherokee Parks (14 points) two consecutive beautiful passes that resulted in easy baskets. The points gave Duke a 75-60 lead, and the game was essentially over.
"I just tried to get the other guys the ball," Hill said. "I'm glad we won. The shots will fall next time, for sure."
The Blue Devils used balanced scoring to make up for Hill's shooting problems. Clark and Collins both led the way with 10 second-half points, and they each finished with a team-high 17. Senior Antonio Lang was a formidable inside presence, finishing with 16 points and eight boards.
After FSU's impressive first-half offensive display, Duke's defense stepped up in the second half as the Seminoles slumped to 11-of-29 from the field.
"In the second half, we made some adjustments as far as who was guarding who," Krzyzewski said, "Tony Lang did some dirty work for us. He did a good job on Sura in the second half. Grant stayed in there, even though he wasn't shooting well. . .His rebounding and his defense on Charlie were important factors."
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