Langdon Dunks, Duke tops Florida State, 86-72

Who was Duke's leading scorer for the 1928-29 season, Eddie Cameron's first as head coach?

If you answered Coke Candler, you're right, and you were probably at the men's basketball game Tuesday night with 10:55 remaining in the game and had nothing better to do than check out the Trivia Quiz on the Cameron Indoor Stadium scoreboard.

At that moment, Corey Louis' third dunk in three Florida State possessions had just cut Duke's lead to 25 (66-41), but the second-ranked Blue Devils (22-2, 11-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) were well on their way to an 86-72 victory, their eighth in eight tries against the Seminoles in Durham.

FSU would briefly bring back memories of previous blown leads versus Michigan and Clemson for Duke fans when Terrell Baker's three-point play capped an 11-1 run and pulled the Seminoles to within 14 with 3:24 left. But there were too many points and too few minutes for a comeback bid, and FSU (16-9, 5-7), which trailed by as many as 31 in the second half, failed to climb any closer.

"I think today was a different game than other games where we've lost leads," Trajan Langdon said. "The fact [is] that we've played a tough three-game stretch in six days and two games in three days.... But we stayed together."

Those three games in six days-a loss at North Carolina on Thursday, a win over N.C. State in Raleigh on Sunday and Tuesday's contest-were the main topic of conversation leading up to the Blue Devils' matchup with the Seminoles. Duke showed no sign of fatigue in the first half, however, jumping out to a 24-10 advantage less than 10 minutes in behind Shane Battier's strong two-way play, and led by 25 (49-24) at intermission.

But after holding FSU to 37-percent shooting over the first 20 minutes and converting 59.4 percent of their field-goal attempts, the Blue Devils found themselves swapping places with their opponent in the second half. Duke and FSU wound up shooting 42.9 and 52.6 percent, respectively, in the second half. The Blue Devils didn't make a field goal over the final 5:29 of the game, but they hit 11-of-14 free throws in that stretch as the Seminoles had to resort to fouling.

"I don't know if our defensive intensity was the same as in the first half," Steve Wojciechowski said. "We let up a little, and they picked it up and played a lot harder."

"I don't think it changes anything," Langdon said. "No matter who plays, we're going to go in there and do the same thing. We're going to focus on defense and we're just going to play with whoever is in the game."

McLeod played a game-high 31 minutes against the Seminoles, while the rest of the starters totaled 28 each. Avery, Chris Burgess and Mike Chappell apparently round out the list. Former starter Taymon Domzalski made a one-minute, one-foul cameo in the first half and Ricky Price came in for seven minutes in the second with the Blue Devils holding a big lead and the regulars tiring.

The new starting lineup looks eerily like the one which struggled against bigger teams in 1997-98. But there is one significant difference this year: Battier.

The 6-foot-8, 215-pound freshman held his own against FSU's Louis, Karim Shabazz and Randell Jackson, who average just over 6-foot-11 and 220 lbs. between them. Battier, who said he relishes challenging bigger players, sported a swollen lip and a bandage over his left eye after Tuesday's game, and admitted he hadn't escaped the effects of Duke's recent stretch.

"I think it's the attitude," he said of his new look. "I think it's the fact that I've got the cut over my eye, I've got the goatee, got a bad haircut. I think it's indicative of the way I felt today. I'm ready for bed and to enjoy tomorrow's day off."