It took a while, but Duke finally found its strut.
After a ferocious defensive battle during the opening 20 minutes, in which both teams turned the ball over 14 times, the frustrated Blue Devils led by just four points at the break. But then, top-ranked Duke exploded for a 26-6 run midway through the second half to pound Florida State 80-49.
"In the first half, that's the worst we've looked on the fast break in a few years," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We had so many turnovers, and we were not taking advantage of good defense."
In the second half, however, Mike Dunleavy and Dahntay Jones helped push the Duke attack into high gear. Finishing with 20 and 18 points, respectively, the two juniors propelled the Blue Devils (21-1, 9-1 in the ACC) over the Seminoles (10-11, 3-7) to avenge their only loss of the season.
The contributions of the two forwards were more vital than usual, as All-American Jason Williams suffered through a difficult shooting night, registering only seven points, 15 below his average.
Despite his star point guard's difficulty scoring, Krzyzewski praised Williams voraciously, particularly for his unselfish play.
"Jason didn't score, but I thought his enthusiasm was just infectious,"
Williams also refused to dwell on his poor shooting, focusing instead on his success at breaking down Florida State defenders off the dribble.
"I think sometimes people associate domination just with scoring," Williams said. "I think I'm able to a lot more things. Mike and Dahntay were playing great, people were slashing, and I just think my ability to get to the basket [helped] my team."
Duke's success after the break can be credited in large part to an infusion of adrenaline. Although very disappointed with their ugly first-half performance, the players chose instead to focus upon enjoying themselves on the court.
"I don't think we ran one play in the second half," Dunleavy said. "It was just emotion, running the floor, getting stuff in transition. A lot of it was playing by instinct."
Although Duke clearly loosened up during the second half, Florida State appeared to press itself. The Seminoles shot terribly in both halves, and though initially they were able to compensate by holding the Blue Devils down defensively, Florida State simply could not withstand the Duke onslaught.
"Duke attacks you-that's the way they play," Robinson said. "You've got to attack back, [because] it comes at you for 40 minutes."
As it did in the first meeting between the two teams, Florida State entered Thursday's contest with a palpable fearlessness. Trevor Harvey and Antwuan Dixon threw down tremendous dunks early on, just as they had during their upset victory over the Blue Devils in early January.
However, as Duke began to pull away in the second half, it was Jones and Dunleavy who impressed the crowd with high-flying acrobatics. Dunleavy's one-handed flush, over Dixon, appeared to be a direct message to the Seminoles.
But Dunleavy downplayed posterizing his opponent.
"It's just a matter of finishing strong, that's all it is," Dunleavy said.
Likewise, Jones, perhaps in deference to his clash with Clemson coach Larry Shyatt last weekend, deflected questions about his bold strides across the court after a silky-smooth double-clutch layup.
"I was just having fun playing basketball," Jones said. "We used a lot of emotion to carry us, the crowd was behind us and we just let our emotions come out. I don't think we were strutting, but we were just enjoying the moment."
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