TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida State's victory over No.1 Duke was so momentous that the Seminole faithful stormed the court not once, but twice in celebration.
In a bizarre series of events, fans prematurely rushed the court after Greg Paulus fouled Al Thornton with 1.7 seconds remaining in the game and the Seminoles ahead five. Several minutes later, the hundreds of students that had been celebrating at midcourt were cleared off the floor by security where they waited in anticipation of the Seminoles' first upset of a No.1 team since defeating Duke Jan. 6, 2003.
After each team sunk a pair of free throws, the final seconds ticked off the clock and the fans rejoiced on the court once again.
Florida State (18-8, 8-7 in the ACC) handed the Blue Devils (27-2, 14-1) their first conference loss of the season, 79-74.
With just more than a minute remaining, Seminole forward Alexander Johnson sealed Shelden Williams in the low post. He received a pass, faked both ways and nailed a baby hook that gave Florida State a two-point advantage, 74-72.
After DeMarcus Nelson missed the front end of a one-and-one, the Seminoles worked the ball inside to Johnson again. As he went up for a shot with 27 seconds remaining, Williams was whistled for his fifth and final foul.
Johnson made both free throws to give the Seminoles a four-point lead that Duke could not overcome.
"We had our opportunities in the last couple minutes," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We had some open looks that our kids just didn't hit and Florida State's kids did."
Poor shooting doomed the Blue Devils down the stretch, as both J.J. Redick and Nelson missed three-pointers with less than two minutes to play. Redick struggled from the field for the third consecutive game, shooting just 10-for-28.
Several Duke players were accosted during the first celebration, as Seminole fans tugged at the Blue Devils' jerseys or yelled in their faces on the way to the frenzy at half-court. Although Redick said the atmosphere was no worse than what the team has faced in other road losses during his career, the chaos was enough to convince Krzyzewski to usher his team to safety before the games completion.
After Redick hit the two technical foul shots that were assessed in reaction to Florida State players leaving the bench during the celebration, Krzyzewski left five reserves to wait out the final moments while the remainder of the Duke team and staff retreated to the locker room.
"[With] guys running onto the court, [Krzyzewski] wanted to get the big-name guys off the court so they wouldn't have anything happen to them," reserve forward Patrick Johnson said.
Thornton buried both of his free throws with 1.7 seconds left, leading to the final 79-74 margin.
"We weren't going to win the basketball game, it was basically over, so why put those kids in harms way?" said Krzyzewski of his decision to pull his players off the court before time had expired. "Obviously when a crowd rushes while they're still time left on the clock, you have to be very concerned.. It's an unfortunate situation and let the powers that be handle it the way they want to handle it, in front of everybody though, not behind closed doors."
Florida State's victory was an important statement for the Seminoles, who are in fifth place in the ACC standings with one game to play. With a win over the top team in the nation, both Krzyzewski and Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton feel the Seminoles have proved they are an NCAA Tournament-caliber team.
"There is something special in this team," Hamilton said. "We're anxious now to see if we can step it up a notch now after we've had some success. That will give us an opportunity to evaluate how far we've come as a program."
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