Devils foil FSU, win share of ACC title

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- After an offensive rebound from an unlikely source, and a clutch layup from a likely one, Duke finally found a way to win in Tallahassee Sunday night.

    Nick Horvath, inserted into the game after Shelden Williams fouled out with 3:06 to play, corralled the ball after a missed layup by Daniel Ewing with 1:13 to play. The board gave Duke a fresh shot clock to protect its slim 62-58 lead. After a timeout, Chris Duhon made a sharp crossover to get by Florida State's best defender Tim Pickett, and then banked in a layup.

    The shot sealed a 70-65 victory for the Blue Devils (24-3, 12-2 in the ACC), who were put to the test by the resilient and pesky Seminoles (18-11, 6-9 in the ACC).

    "That was a great game," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We feel very fortunate to win. It was a game played by two winning teams tonight; the effort of both teams was sensational. The defense, the energy, it was a big-time college basketball game tonight." Duke was paced by Luol Deng, who led the way with 20 points and nine rebounds. Williams, Ewing and Duhon also scored in double-figures for the Blue Devils.

    Florida State's attack was less balanced, as Pickett hit six threes on his way to a team-leading 24 points and five rebounds. Two minutes into the second half, the senior exploded for thirteen of his points in a five-minute span. Even with Duhon tightly guarding him, Pickett managed to get to the basket and finish, as well as knock down contested outside jumpers.

    "It's great to play a great player like him," Duhon said. "He made some big shots for his team, which we knew he was going to do. We just wanted him to take a lot of shots because he's going to get his points."

    When Seminoles forward Michael Joiner hit a layup to give Florida State a two point lead with 11:59 in regulation, the 12,100 fans in the packed Len County Civic Center went into mayhem. But from that point on, Duhon didn't allow Pickett to score again except for a meaningless three pointer at the buzzer.

    "Pickett was ready to have a forty-point night tonight," Krzyzewski said. "I thought Chris did a pretty good job on him. Pickett tonight would've taken the game over by himself---he almost did anyway." While Pickett knocked down fifty percent of his three-pointers, the top outside shooters for the Blue Devils struggled. J.J. Redick shot 1-for-9 from the field, including 1-for-8 from the three-point line. Redick also uncharicteristically missed a free throw, only his fourth errant foul shot of the year. Ewing also struggled from long-range, shooting 1-for-8 from deep.

    "You're not going to always hit the shots, but we had other things going for us," Ewing said. "We were driving to the goal and getting fouled. That really compensated for us not hitting our outside shots."

    However, when it counted, Duke was accurate. The Blue Devils hit all eight free throw attempts in the last two minutes to send the Florida State fans home quiet. Seminoles' head coach Leonard Hamilton cited the disparity in free throw attempts as an advantage for Duke. "Once again it always seems as though the last five or six games we've always come up short on the free throw end," Hamilton said. "We just can't seem to get enough dribble-drives and enough opportunities to get the foul line. But that's something that we have to learn and grow from. We got to attack a little better, get a few more offensive rebounds, be a little more aggressive in our approach to the basket to give us those extra free-throws."

    Despite the loss for Florida State, the Seminoles are very much in contention for an at large bid for the NCAA tournament. Krzyzewski is rooting for them.

    "Florida State played winning basketball, but they got a loss," Krzyzewski said. "They've got to be given credit for that. I think they should definately be an NCAA team."