TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - After 20 minutes of play Wednesday night in Tallahassee, the Seminoles seemed to have no answers for a Duke squad brimming with confidence.
The Blue Devils led Florida State 34-22 at the intermission after Jon Scheyer exploded for 16 points off the bench, sparking a 16-0 run near the middle of the period.
In the second half, however, an altogether different FSU group took the floor and stormed all the way back, taking a one-point lead with fewer than four minutes to play.
As the Seminoles charged, you couldn't shake the feeling that Duke had been there before.
On Dec. 20 in Madison Square Garden, the Blue Devils fell to then-No. 11 Pittsburgh, and its similarities to Duke's ACC road opener seemed ominous as the team's lead was slipping away Wednesday. At halftime, the scores were identical, 34-22. The Panthers were turning the ball over, making poor passes and missing easy shots, enabling the Blue Devils to score in transition and keep the Pitt fans in their seats. Just like against Florida State, though, Duke allowed its opponent back into the game, and the Panthers claimed a 50-48 lead with 5:27 left in regulation.
That, however, is where the similarities end. Instead of letting the Seminoles stay in the game, the Blue Devils responded with the poise and maturity they lacked that night in New York.
"When you play good teams like Pitt and Florida State, they are just not going to give up, and sometimes it makes them come out harder [in the second half]," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We beat a real good basketball team tonight."
Against Pittsburgh, freshman Kyle Singler made a key 3-pointer late in the game to tie the score. Wednesday, he gave his team a two-point advantage with a trey off of a pick-and-pop from Scheyer to respond to FSU's only lead of the second half. That started a game-sealing 16-2 run by Duke that put the Seminoles away for good.
In the closing minutes, the Blue Devils received key contributions from players who had struggled for the duration of the game. Point guard Greg Paulus had a first half reminiscent of last year's debacle against Virginia Tech, shooting three air balls and failing to score in the opening period. In crunch time, though, Paulus came through in a big way. The junior scored all nine of his points in the second half, including two layups and two foul shots late in the game. Senior DeMarcus Nelson, who came in averaging a team-high 14.1 points per contest, was shut out in the first half but contributed seven points to prevent a repeat of Pitt's Levance Fields' game-winning three.
"We told them at halftime, 'Just settle down,'" Krzyzewski said. "DeMarcus, on a couple of offensive rebounds, just put it up too fast instead of shot-faking. It's not that he needs to score, but if you don't score, it gets to you. I was proud of him that he was able to function well, and then he made some of the big plays of the game."
Overall, Wednesday's win showed how this team has grown since last season, when it suffered several last-second losses-and also since December, when it fell to an inspired Panthers squad. The Donald L. Tucker Center erupted after FSU's Jason Rich scored with 3:46 left to give his team a 55-54 lead, and the young Duke squad could have folded in its first conference road game. Despite their youth, however, the players came together to quiet the crowd and leave Tallahassee with the victory.
"Those young guys are more than capable, and they are outstanding players," Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "[Duke has] brought those youngsters along, that's one reason why I think they are one of the top five or six teams in the country."
If Hamilton is right about the Blue Devils' potential, the differences between this contest and that against Pitt under a month ago-not the similarities-will define just how good this Duke team can be.
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