With 4.4 seconds to play against Florida State, the No. 8 Blue Devils were down by one, 68-67, but they had put themselves in position to win.
Greg Paulus held the ball on the baseline underneath the Seminole basket. He lobbed a pass into the lane, and Josh McRoberts-who had been freed by DeMarcus Nelson's screen-caught it with his back to the basket. He took one dribble and faked left before spinning to his right and lofting up a shot.
The shot hit the back rim and bounced up but did not go in. Nelson had a chance to tip it back up, but his tip glanced off the rim and went over as time expired, touching off a jersey-popping, water-bottle-throwing, court-rushing, tomahawk-chopping celebration by the Florida State players, who earned the program's first win in Cameron Indoor Stadium in 15 years Sunday afternoon, 68-67.
"It was as hard a loss as you can get," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We've won a number of games over the years in that situation and the exhilaration of winning I'm not sure matches the despair of not winning in those situations. There's just such a wide spectrum of emotion on one play and that's what makes this a great sport. I feel badly for our team."
McRoberts and Nelson's chances to win the game were actually Duke's second and third shots in the last eight seconds of the game. After a reverse layup by Florida State's Ryan Reid with 3:20 left gave the Seminoles a 68-62 lead, the No. 8 Blue Devils (18-5, 5-4 in the ACC) locked down on defense. Florida State (17-6, 5-4) would not score again as Duke clawed its way back into the game.
First, Greg Paulus-who finished the game with a career-high 23 points-hit the second of two free throws. On the other end, Florida State's Jason Rich caught the ball while he was headed toward the sideline and stepped out of bounds. Seminole head coach Leonard Hamilton, believing that Nelson pushed Rich out of bounds, threw a fit, screaming at the referees before storming away.
Nelson hit a jumper on the ensuing possession, cutting the deficit to three points. In disgust, Hamilton tore off his sportcoat, drawing a technical foul with 2:31 to play. Freshman guard Jon Scheyer calmly knocked down both free throws, cutting Florida State's lead to one.
But neither team would score again.
Rich missed a three-pointer for the Seminoles, and then Nelson missed one for the Blue Devils. The teams traded misses again, with Nelson's tough shot inside hitting the front rim, and Florida State called timeout, up by one with 52 seconds to play.
The Seminoles looked inside to Al Thornton-who shot 7-for-21 on the game, scoring 21 points-but McRoberts' tight defense forced him to kick it out. Florida State guard Toney Douglas missed a tough jumper and Blue Devil forward Dave McClure ripped down the rebound with 34 seconds to play.
With the shot clock dead, the Blue Devils looked for a driving opportunity but had to call timeout to reset their offense with 7.7 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Paulus drove to the basket and missed a tough layup.
"We were trying to drive the ball and get to the foul line," Krzyzewski said. "I thought we ran the play well, got it and put it up strong. It just didn't go in. It is what it is. As they say in Chicago, what the Hell."
Ten minutes into the first half, it did not look like a game that would come down to a final shot.
The Blue Devils scored the first seven points of the game en route to a 27-10 lead with 9:47 to go in the half. McClure and Lance Thomas were holding Thornton-who scored 37 points in Cameron last season-in check, but Thomas had already committed two fouls and McClure had one.
In less than four minutes, McRoberts and Thomas picked up their third fouls and McClure picked up his second.
The Seminoles went on a 15-2 run, making the score 29-25 with 4:58 to go. Thornton and the 6-foot-9 Uche Echefu scored all but four of those points, and all but six of the Seminoles points for the rest of the half. With McClure, McRoberts and Thomas on the bench, the Blue Devils had little answer for Florida State's athletic wing players, and by the end of the half, Duke led just 36-33.
Florida State took the lead just 1:04 into the second half, but neither team led by more than six in a back-and-forth second half that featured six ties and four lead changes. The largest lead of the half was Florida State's 68-62 advantage with 3:20 to go.
NOTES:
Greg Paulus picked up a technical foul following a scuffle with a Florida State guard 9:47 into the second half. He scored 20 or more points for the second time in his career.. With the loss, Duke falls to 137-58 following a loss under Krzyzewski.... The Blue Devils have now lost two consecutive games in which they missed a final shot that would have won the game.
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