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Published Jan 18, 2022
FSU gives Duke's Coach K not-so-fond farewell, tops No. 6 Blue Devils in OT
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Ira Schoffel  •  TheOsceola
Managing Editor
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@iraschoffel

Leonard Hamilton and the Florida State men's basketball program took a moment to honor legendary Duke head coach Mike Kryzewski before Tuesday night's game -- Krzyzewski's last at the Tucker Center.

Then the Seminoles sent him and the No. 6 Blue Devils back to Durham, N.C., with one more loss for the road.

After he pushed the game to overtime with a running jumper just before regulation ended, senior guard RayQuan Evans hit two free throws with 12.3 seconds left to give the Seminoles a 79-78 upset victory.

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Box Score: No. 6 Duke 78, FSU 79 OT

Once FSU got a stop on the Blue Devils' final possession, thanks in large part to a blocked shot from freshman John Butler, hundreds of Seminole fans stormed onto the court to celebrate the victory.

With the win -- Florida State's fourth straight and NCAA-record 13th straight in overtime games -- the Seminoles improve to 11-5 on the season and 5-2 in the ACC. Duke falls to 14-3 and 4-2.

"Tough loss for us, but congratulations to them," Krzyzewski said. "Leonard's team played their hearts out."

Florida State trailed by five points at halftime but controlled most of the second half.

The Seminoles actually led by six points with less than three minutes to go in the second half, but Duke went on an 8-0 run to go ahead by two points in the final minute.

A key to that surge by the Blue Devils was a switch to a zone defense, which forced the Seminoles into several empty trips and gave Duke much-needed rest down the stretch.

"I thought it slowed down the momentum of the game," Krzyzewski said. "The momentum of the game was definitely going in their favor for most of the game."


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But after Duke center Mark Williams slammed home a dunk to give his team a 67-65 advantage with 30 seconds remaining, Leonard Hamilton called a timeout with 14 seconds left to set up a final play.

FSU spread the floor offensively, and Evans drove to the basket and scored with a high-arching floater over Duke star freshman Paolo Banchero.

Evans only scored six points in the game, but two sent it to overtime and his last two at the free-throw line sealed the win.

"He's very mature, and he has a tremendous amount of character," Hamilton said. "And he's given us tremendous leadership. So whenever the game's on the line, he seems to always make the right decisions."

FSU was led by Caleb Mills' 18 points and Butler's 14. The Seminoles also got seven points and seven rebounds from senior forward Malik Osborne, who was listed as "doubtful" for the game with a sprained ankle.

Center Naheem McLeod and guard Anthony Polite each chipped in nine points; McLeod also grabbed seven rebounds in just 11 minutes of action.

The Seminoles benefitted from a huge edge in offensive rebounding, 19-7, and they also did a much better job of taking care of the basketball. FSU was credited with just five turnovers, while the Blue Devils committed 15.

Banchero, who is likely to be the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, led Duke with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists. The Blue Devils also got 15 from Williams and 13 from Wendell Moore Jr.

Florida State returns to action Thursday at noon against visiting UNF. That game was rescheduled after the original contest was postponed due to COVID.

Stay connected with Warchant.com for complete coverage.

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