03/12/26 08:33:00
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03/12 20:31 CDT No. 1 Duke edges Florida State 80-79 in ACC Tournament after
Seminoles' buzzer-beater rims out
No. 1 Duke edges Florida State 80-79 in ACC Tournament after Seminoles'
buzzer-beater rims out
By STEVE REED
AP Sports Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) --- Isaiah Evans made seven 3-pointers and finished with a
career-high 32 points, Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year Cameron
Boozer added 23 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 1 Duke survived a scare from
Florida State to beat the Seminoles 80-79 on Thursday night in the Atlantic
Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
The Seminoles had a chance at an upset after Chauncey Wiggins blocked Boozer
with seven seconds left, but Robert McCray V's 3 at the buzzer rimmed out.
Maliq Brown came up with two huge defensive plays to turn the momentum of the
game for Duke, had a 19-2 run in the second half after trailing by eight with
13 minutes left. Brown had 12 rebounds.
The Blue Devils (30-2) outrebounded Florida State 46-25 but needed to overcame
28 points from Lajae Jones and 25 from McCray for their ninth straight win. The
Seminoles were 11 of 28 on 3s.
Evans, who played high school basketball at nearby North Mecklenburg High, had
28 points against the Seminoles in Duke's 91-87 victory in January. He was 11
of 20 from the field on Thursday night and 7 of 16 from beyond the arc.
Duke played without starting point guard Caleb Foster, who is out indefinitely
with a broken right foot, and starting big man Patrick Ngongba II, who is
sitting out this week's Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament while dealing with
his own foot issue.
Florida State led 35-34 at halftime and carried the momentum into the second
half, building a 59-51 lead seven minutes in behind 10 quick points from McCray.
But Boozer scored on offensive rebound and then drilled a 3 from the top of the
key on consecutive possessions to ignite a 19-2 run. Brown, the ACC's defensive
player of the year and sixth man of the year, had two steals during the run
leading to Duke layups.
But Florida battled back to cut the lead to 80-79 behind Jones before McCray's
miss at the buzzer.
Up next
Florida State: Awaits a potential bid to the NIT.
Duke: Will face the winner of Clemson and No. 24 North Carolina on Friday.
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