With a little over 30 seconds left in the men's basketball team's game Thursday night, senior point guard Andre Buckner - all 5-foot-10, 170 pounds of him - came barrelling down the lane, hopped a defender and tossed up a layup that bounced around on the rim for a few seconds before finding the hole.
"I think a lot of people out there wanted that basket to go in more than I did," Buckner said. "But it was a nice performance and a nice way to close out my career, and what a better way to do it than at the end of the game when everyone's pulling for you."
With that, the game's final bucket, the No. 10 Blue Devils (21-5, 11-4 in the ACC) put the finishing touches on the visiting Seminoles (13-14, 4-12), winning 72-56 in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Moments later, in a Rudy-esque performance Buckner, who was honored as part of Senior Night with teammates Dahntay Jones and Casey Sanders, was taken out of the game to a standing ovation and a hug from head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
"Andre's been great," Krzyzewski said. "That is where the basketball gods shined their light in the right way. He's a great kid. We're really going to miss that kid."
While the night was all about the seniors off the court - honoring and letting them speak both before and after the game - it was a freshman, Shelden Williams who helped jumpstart Duke and dominated the paint for the Blue Devils all night.
Williams, who contributed on each of Duke first five offensive possessions, finished with 12 points and 17 rebounds, racking up 11 of each in the first half alone. He also controlled the paint on defense, where he blocked five shots.
Behind Williams, the Blue Devils jumped out to an early 11-2 lead with 15:10 left and cruised to a 29-9 advantage at the 5:04 mark in the first half. It was not until more than 15 minutes had passed that FSU hit double digits, and when the teams went into the locker room, Duke held a 40-20 advantage.
"Anytime you're on the road against a team like Duke and you don't stick to your game plan, turn the ball over 15 times and get outrebounded by 12 in the first half, it's going to be tough," Seminole head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We had a difficult time adjusting, but a lot of credit has to go to Duke."
Hamilton was able to regroup his team after the break - Florida State outscored Duke and shot 50 percent from field in the second half - but it was too little too late.
The Blue Devils drew the advantage out to as much as 25 in the second stanza' early minutes. With 14:42 freshman point guard Sean Dockery stole the ball and sent it up court to Chris Duhon. Seeing a Seminole defender in his face, the tri-captain dumped a pass to Sanders who delivered a monster, two-handed slam to give the Blue Devils a 54-29 lead.
Florida State tried to shave off a few points in the waning minutes, but Duke, remembering its disappointing loss to Maryland on senior night two seasons ago, held strong, never letting its Southern rivals within single digits.
"We have a great group of seniors," Duhon said. "They brought a lot to this program and it's just good to send them off in the right way, winning all of our games here in Cameron and in the position to do something special."
Prior to the game, per senior night ritual, Buckner, followed by Sanders and Jones received center court ovations and made short speeches. At the end, after some time in the locker room, they returned with their teammates and made similar remarks to the remaining students.
Both Buckner and Sanders thanked the "the greatest fans in the world, especially the Class of 2003." Jones was also appreciative, thanking the fans and the University for helping him transfer and come into a "fantastic situation." They then ended their speech by wishing the student body a happy spring break.
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