TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — With seconds remaining in the first half and his team up 41-26, J.J. Redick raced across the baseline looking for a screen. He got the pick he was seeking and received the ball at the left wing. Redick’s pump fake sent his defender flying, and the junior nailed a wide-open three as the buzzer sounded.
Redick gave a pleasant wave and flashed a giant grin in the general direction of the student section.
“That was between me and them,” Redick said of the exchange.
He later clarified his relationship with the raucous Florida State crowd that had been hounding him from the opening tip.
“I love that,” Redick said. “At times I want to go up and… confront some people with some of the stuff they say, but hey, that’s college basketball.”
The buzzer-beater took away what enthusiasm was left in the building, and the disheartened Seminoles would never come close to chiseling away the Duke lead. Twenty minutes in, the game was already over.
Redick’s three-pointer also ended an outstanding half for him. He went five-for-six from behind the arc in the opening stanza and scored 19 points.
The play was not an extraordinary individual effort. The shot was uncontested—an attempt that Redick, or any other consistent three-point shooter, should make. The execution necessary to create the open look, however, was flawless and exemplary of the offensive prowess the Blue Devils displayed all night.
“I think Duke did a very good job of executing their game plan,” Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said. “Especially early in the first half, they came out and just dribble-drove us time and time again and broke our defense down.”
Duke was simply too fast for the Seminoles Saturday, and the speed difference manifested itself on both ends. The Blue Devils prevented Florida State from driving into the interior. Freshman Isaiah Swann, who finished the game with a team-high 13 points, was the only Seminole who could beat Duke off the dribble. Florida State was forced to take long, contested shots, especially early in the game. The home team was never able to convert the tough looks and proceeded to shoot 33.3 percent from the floor.
On the other end of the floor, Redick and the Blue Devils ran circles around the Seminoles. Some of Redick’s three-pointers came in extraordinary fashion—deep, quick shots that only he would make. Most of his first-half trifectas, however, came off of standard plays—high post and baseline screens that are Duke’s bread and butter.
“I got open looks, and I got open looks early that got me going,” Redick said. “I really felt like the last 10 minutes of the first half I got in a rhythm, and when I get in a rhythm it feels like anything can go in.”
Andrew Wilson, Redick’s primary victim in this contest, said Duke’s offensive game plan was no surprise.
“I think for the most part we knew what they were trying to accomplish,” Wilson said. “We couldn’t take it away from them.
“I really had a good feel for where he was going to be on the court, what screens he’s coming off of, and to be honest I just couldn’t stop him. He completely outplayed me,” Wilson added.
How did the J.J. who scored only five points at Florida State a year ago net 31 Saturday night? This year Redick is much more mobile, is much more capable of shaking his defender away from the ball, and, most importantly, now has the ability to beat his man off the dribble.
“The biggest difference in him this year and in the past is his ability to put it on the floor,” Wilson said. “You have to respect that this year. We felt we had him scouted pretty well coming into the game, but he was pretty much unstoppable tonight.”
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