Duke 70, Florida State 56, Final: Duke moves to 5-2 in the ACC with tonight's victory, showing great resilience as the Blue Devils fought off a 12-0 run from the Seminoles midway through the second half. Scheyer arguably had the best performance of the night, posting 22 points, but Singler stayed right with him, putting up 20 of his own. If Singler can build off this strong outing and continue taking and making quality shots in future games, Duke will no doubt cement itself at the top of the conference standings by the end of the regular season.
Duke 66, Florida State 53, 1:17 Second Half: Scheyer did an excellent job of breaking through Florida State's halfcourt press, keeping his poise and breaking through the trap. Lance Thomas is at the line and just hit both free throws to most likely put this one out of reach for the Seminoles. A wide-open two-handed slam for Miles Plumlee on the fastbreak seemed to ice this one, but Snaer just hit a quick 3-pointer and Florida State called a timeout. But the Seminoles will need a miracle to get back into this one.
Duke 62, Florida State 50, 2:29 Second Half: Duke has used an 11-3 run to push the lead back up to 12, and it doesn't look like the Seminoles will have the offensive firepower to turn the tide. Foul shooting woes are preventing Florida State from taking advantage of its opportunities to trim the margin, and this squad simply doesn't have the consistent outside shooting needed to quickly rebound from a deficit of this size.
Duke 60, Florida State 50, 4:40 Second Half: Singler just hit a clutch 3-pointer, showing a glimmer of the preseason All-American accolades he earned at the beginning of the season. Alabi answered on the other end with a turnaround jumper, but Lance stretched the lead back to 11 with a tip-in. Zoubek just fouled out with six points and three boards, and Miles will come in to finish up the game.
Duke 53, Florida State 47, 7:49 Second Half: The Seminoles are on a 12-0 run, and the Crazies are getting heated after two straight fouls have been called against Duke. And even though Derwin Kitchen missed a one-and-one chance, Florida State got the offensive board. Luckily, the Seminoles preceded to turn it over again on a travel, and Scheyer ended the Duke drought with a long jumper at the top of the key. Florida State has fought back thanks to aggressive slashing to the basket and strong offensive rebounding, and Duke has racked up nine team fouls as a result.
Duke 51, Florida State 46, 9:30 Second Half: Michael Snaer is starting to heat up for the Seminoles, giving them a much-needed lift off the bench. He has scored nine of Florida State's last eleven points, with all of the baskets coming on layups. The freshman is the only Seminole player who has shown an ability to score in traffic this far, and the Seminoles would do well to get him some more touches if they want to get back in this game. Coach K can sense a possible momentum shift coming, as he just got out of his seat and yelled, "Let's go students!".
Duke 51, Florida State 38, 12:58 Second Half: After Singler knocked down a trey from the right corner, he drew three foul shots from the very same spot on Duke's next possession, drawing contact on Luke Loucks by going right into the Seminole's chest. Singler made 2-of-3, giving Duke a 16-point advantage. But Michael Snaer came down on the other end and converted a 3-point play. Nevertheless, the Blue Devils still have their largest lead of the game.
Duke 44, Florida State 33, 16:15 Second Half: Duke quickly puts an end to the mini-run thanks to a foul-line jumper from Singler and another 3-pointer from Scheyer. That's Scheyer's fourth long ball of the night, and he will continue to get plenty of open looks if the Blue Devils continue to successfully drive and kick on offense.
Duke 39, Florida State 33, 17:54 Second Half: The Seminoles have opened the half on a 4-0 run after a 3-ball from Singleton and 1-of-2 free throws from Alabi. Plumlee just went to the bench after apparently taking an elbow to the forehead and Zoubek has come in to replace him.
Duke 39, Florida State 29, Halftime: The Blue Devils end the half on an 11-3 run in a game filled with fouls and turnovers so far, not surprising given the physical nature of both teams. The Seminoles gave it away 14 times in the first 20 minutes, while Duke only coughed it up four times. Florida State has the advantage in the paint, though, outscoring the Blue Devils 20-10 in the lane behind nine points from Alabi (shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the field). Scheyer is leading the way for Duke, scoring 13 points on excellent 5-of-8 shooting. The Plumlees have continued to play ineffectively, although Miles does have three rebounds to his credit. Without the turnovers, the Seminoles would be right in this game, as they shot 52% from the field. The problem was that they only attempted 25 shots in comparison to Duke's 33. Moreover, Florida State only connected on one 3-pointer in the period, and the Blue Devils knocked down five. But if the Seminoles can do a better job of taking care of the ball after intermission, they will no doubt make this a much closer contest.
Duke 37, Florida State 27, 1:24 First Half: Duke has pushed the lead back to ten points thanks to a layup from Thomas and a 3-pointer from Singler. The Seminoles have not been able to steal the momentum in this game because of turnovers, and they have fallen prey to charges in particular.
Duke 31, Florida State 26, 3:59 First Half: Scheyer's 3-pointer from one of his favorite spots in the corner gave Duke a little more breathing room and Alabi just picked up his second personal after an offensive foul. The Seminoles' man-to-man defense has given the Blue Devils some trouble on the last few possessions, as Duke has struggled to get the ball down low and penetrate into the lane.
Duke 28, Florida State 26, 5:17 First Half: The Blue Devils have committed their eight team foul, putting the Seminoles in the bonus the rest of the way here in the first half. Zoubek has two personals and Thomas has one, prompting Coach K to bring out a smaller lineup with Smith, Dawkins, Scheyer, Singler and Mason Plumlee. Back to back jumpers by Smith and Scheyer gave Duke a lift, but Ryan Reid has scored on consecutive FSU possessions—one basket coming on a wide-open dunk—and the Seminoles are not going away easily. Xavier Gibson's lay-in has just cut the lead to two points.
Duke 24, Florida State 16, 8:58 First Half: Alabi made his presence felt down low with a rejection of Singler's putback and then got it done on the other end by converting a 3-point play, despite chants from the Crazies of "U-G-L-Y, You ain't got no alabi, you ugly, yeah yeah, you ugly!". But Zoubek came right back on Duke's next possession and scored an easy layup. Another 3-pointer by Scheyer has kept the Blue Devils' lead at eight points.
Duke 19, Florida State 11, 10:34 First Half: Singler is covering Alabi now with Thomas taking care of Singleton. Smith has just given the Blue Devils their largest lead of the game after a pull-up off the dribble.
Duke 15, Florida State 11, 11:36 First Half: Fouls are coming fast and furious, as Duke already has six and the Seminoles have five. One Florida State sitting under the basket in front of the Grad students is drawing the ire of the Crazies as he continues to get up out of his seat despite repeated chants of "Sit, Sit, Sit" from the student section. His burgundy and yellow sweater has also prompted chants of "Harry Potter" as the garment looks conspicuously like the one Potter wears in the film series. Andre Dawkins just nailed a 3-ball from the baseline, and it's great to him getting back on track after a string of games with little to no production.
Duke 10, Florida State 7, 15:08 First Half: Smith gets back on track with a nice 3-point play the old fashioned way thanks to a nifty dish from Scheyer on the fastbreak. Turnovers are plaguing the Seminoles thus far, but a Derwin Kitchen 3-pointer and a smooth hook shot by Alabi have them right in this game. Plumlee and Zoubek have been guarding the FSU big man, but Zoubs didn't really put up much of a fight as Alabi easily scored over him.
Duke 3, Florida State 2, 16:57 First Half: A very choppy start to this one as the Seminoles turned the ball over on two out of their first three possessions. But FSU finally got on the board after a two-handed slam by Alabi. Scheyer, though, quickly answered with a 3-ball from the top of the key. Nolan Smith, who led the Blue Devils to victory against Clemson, has missed his first two shot attempts.
Tipoff: Florida State brings out Solomon Alabi, Ryan Reid and Chris Singleton in the frontcourt along with Deividas Dulkys and Derwin Kitchen at the guard spots. The Blue Devils counter with Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith, Kyle Singer, Lance Thomas and Miles Plumlee. Cameron Indoor is packed and the Crazies are out in full force. We should have a great battle on our hands tonight as Duke looks to hold on to third place in the ACC.
Pregame: The Blue Devils return to the friendly confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on Florida State tonight. No. 8 Duke (16-3, 4-2 in the ACC) scored a much-needed road win last time out against Clemson, and the squad will face another defensive-minded team in the Seminoles (15-4, 3-2). Florida State leads the nation in field goal percentage defense, holding its opponents to 35.5% shooting from the field. The Seminoles' formidable front line is led by 7-foot-1 center Solomon Alabi, who averages 2.6 blocks per game. Forward Chris Singleton scored a career-high 23 points Sunday in a win against Georgia Tech and Ryan Reid brings senior experience to the paint. These powerful post players certainly won't give the Plumlees anything easy down low, and it will be interesting to see if Duke's most skilled big men can rebound from subpar performances against Clemson. Florida State also has one of the nation's top freshman prospects on its bench; five-star recruit Michael Snaer is posting 8.2 points per game and averages over 21 minutes of burn this season. We'll be back in a few minutes with the opening tip and starters.
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