TALLAHASEE, Fla. -- Do it all Duhon did it again against Florida State.
Reminiscent of his game-winning three-pointer with 36.4 seconds remaining in Duke's 56-49 win over the Seminoles January 29th in Cameron, the senior guard once again provided the knockout punch that ended FSU's bid at an upset.
After a Nick Horvath offensive rebound and three consecutive timeouts with 1:08 remaining in the game, the Blue Devils ran their patented 2-3 motion offense that ticked off precious seconds as Duke held an uncomfortable 62-58 lead. Just as the shot clock reached single digits, Duhon squared up the ball at the extended foul line, directly in front of the Blue Devil bench. While many would attempt a fancy move in the opportunity to become a game hero, the battle-tested Duhon merely exploded by his man with his slippery first step, and proceeded to scoop the ball off the backboard and into the hoop, giving the Blue Devils a 64-58 advantage. After Duhon's seemingly routine play, the Seminole fans decided enough was enough, and headed to the parking lot.
"We were able to run down the clock," Duhon said. "We just ran our normal ball-screen play. Coach has the confidence in me that I'd be able to make a play out of it. I was able to get around Pickett, and make the lay up."
While Duhon's last minute offensive heroics certainly sealed the victory for Duke, the Louisiana native's defense of Florida State's leading scored is what allowed for the Blue Devils' offensive opportunities to put away the Seminoles. While Pickett scored a game-high 24 points on 9-for-21 shooting, the junior college transfer did not score in the last 13:08 of the ball game before he nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer in Duke's 70-65 win.
A change from the first matchup with Florida State, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who considers Duhon his team's best defender, decided to frustrate Pickett with the senior captain's fiery effort and considerable quickness. Though he scored 13 points in the first seven minutes of the second half, Pickett struggled more with hitting the rim rather than putting the ball in the hoop in the game's most important moments. A Duhon steal with six minutes remaining--with Duke holding onto a precious 53-49 lead--seemed to sum up the senior captain's defense of Pickett.
Anthony Richardson attempted to throw the ball to Pickett, but Duhon deflected the ball down the court. As the ball skipped towards the other end-line, Pickett leisurely tried to retrieve the ball. In contrast, Duhon sprinted after the loose sphere, diving for the Spalding before deflecting the ball off Pickett, ending an important Florida State possession.
"[Duhon] has the heart of a lion," said Duke freshman Luol Deng, who had a team-high 20 points and nine rebounds. "He wasn't going to let us lose out there tonight."
Of course, Duhon was not the only Duke defender scrapping, as the entire unit made up for a day in which J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing combined to shoot 2-for-17 from behind the three-point line. The Blue Devils adjusted their defense after giving up several back-door lay ups and dunks early in the first half, making Florida State score solely on contested drives and jump shots in the game's latter moments.
"They spread their offense out, and we were playing the passing lanes like we normally do," Redick said. "They did a good job of making adjustments [for back-door scores]. Then we did a good job of making adjustments. It says a lot about our team [to win after a bad shooting night]."
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