The Duke Blue Devils traveled to Tallahassee, Florida for an ACC matchup against the Florida State Seminoles. Both teams came into this game with four conference wins, looking to add another piece to their resume. This game featured some of the best players in the ACC college basketball, including Paolo Banchero, Caleb Mills and Anthony Polite.
Florida State basketball quickly matched Duke’s early pressure, as the first half of the game went back and forth. Duke lead the game at halftime, 38-33.
Flordia State Basketball Holds Off Duke in OT
After going down five into the half, Florida State basketball opened the second half on an 11-3 run to take the lead at 44-41 with just under 12 minutes left. A three-pointer by Polite with 7:30 left pushed the Seminoles lead to seven. Duke eventually cut the lead to five with 3:36 left. Between the 3:36 mark and the 1:43 mark, the Blue Devils made four of their last five shots. This put the score at 65-63.
Duke tied the game with a layup with 39 seconds left, then they took a late lead. On Florida State’s subsequent possession, RayQuan Evans drove the paint and hit a high banking layup with 1.4 seconds to tie the game at 67.
Overtime opened with a couple of buckets traded back and forth. Duke’s AJ Griffin eventually hit a three to go up two with 2:18 remaining. Florida State battled back, but it looked like Duke was going to be too much. The Seminoles cut the lead to one with 31 seconds left. Evans stepped up again, as he hit two free throws. Florida State’s John Butler then blocked Duke’s Wendell Moore in the final seconds to secure the huge ACC victory.
Anytime you get a college basketball win over Duke, it’s a big victory.