For whatever reason, when Duke visits the Donald L. Tucker Center, they seem to get the very best from Florida State. On Wednesday night, the very best from the Seminoles was enough to upset the very best in the country.
The Seminoles defeated Duke (15-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) 66-61 Wednesday night and effectively ended the Blue Devils 25-game winning streak that dated back to last season. The winning streak was the second longest in Duke history.
Derwin Kitchen led the Seminoles (12-5, 2-1 ACC) with 22 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Singleton added 18 points, while converting 8-of-9 free throw attempts. Wednesday night’s victory marked the third time in nine years that FSU has defeated a top-ranked Duke team on their home floor.
“They’re very fundamentally sound” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzekski said of the Seminoles. “They knocked us back for about 24 minutes.”
Those 24 minutes occurred mostly in the first half, where Duke shot just 28 percent and trailed FSU by four entering halftime. FSU came out hot in the second half and quickly opened up a 40-29 lead, but Duke answered quickly behind the superb shooting of Kyle Singler and ultimately tied the game at 42 with 12 minutes to play.
Singler finished with 20 points, but 18 of those came in the second half. Despite Singler coming on strong in the second half, the night belonged to the Seminoles.
Duke was held to a season-low 31 percent shooting from the field and connected on only 4-of-17 3-pointers in the first half. FSU’s defense had been consistent throughout the season, but it has been the offense that has struggled.
At least for one night the shots fell when they needed to for the Seminoles.
“We have a talented team, but we haven’t always shown it” Singleton said. “We believe we can beat anybody.”
Singleton hit two big free throws with 33 seconds remaining to give FSU a 63-58 lead. On the ensuing Duke possession Nolan Smith nailed a step-back 3-pointer to cut the lead to 63-61. That was as close as the Blue Devils would get.
At the end of the night it, was the Seminole fans who were rejoicing in celebration. Numerous FSU fans rushed the court, crowding the team to celebrate its fourth victory over a top-ranked team in FSU men’s basketball history. Three of those have come against Duke, with the last one occurring at the Tucker Center in March of 2006.
Although the ‘Noles will certainly savor this victory, they know they cannot celebrate for too long.
“We beat the No. 1 team in the country”, Kitchen said. “But at the end of the day, we can’t be satisfied with this win, so we got to be ready Saturday.”
FSU will hope to carry the momentum from this victory into Saturday’s game when they host North Carolina State at the Donald L. Tucker Center at 4 p.m.