Duke 79, Florida State 60 (final): And Duke has completed its rout of Florida State here in Tallahassee, with the final margin falling inside 20 points despite Florida State never having competed at anywhere near Duke's level today. The Seminoles managed to clamber back to a 41.8 percent shooting performance after making just 28.6 percent in the first half, but few teams could have answered Duke's 60.8 percent showing, especially when 11 of Duke's 18 3-point attempts went down.
Duke 76, Florida State 53 (3:14, second half): Both teams showed decreased intensity as the clock ticked inside of five minutes, with each side missing opportunities at point-blank range and Duke doing its best to take the air out of the ball. Seminole freshman Michael Ojo, a 7-foot-1, 290-pound center missed a pair of dunks—though he finished his own miss on one of them—but the Nigeria native showed flashes of potential once he learns the finer points of the game. Duke's Josh Hairston missed a similarly golden opportunity at the rim off a lovely feed from Rasheed Sulaimon.
Duke 70, Florida State 45 (7:43, second half): For a significant portion of the game this afternoon, National Player of the Year candidate Mason Plumlee has been the lowest-scoring Blue Devil among the five starters, with all three guards getting into double digits and Amile Jefferson even continuing his offensive maturation with eight points on 3-of-3 shooting. Plumlee, who played just nine first-half minutes after accumulating two quick fouls, got his own total up to eight on the day at the midway point of the second half, but the 9-for-13 performance of Quinn Cook, Rasheed Sulaimon and Seth Curry from beyond the arc has carried the day in Duke's developing rout of Florida State.
Duke 65, Florida State 41 (11:09, second half): Duke point guards Tyler Thornton and Quinn Cook led the charge as the Blue Devils extended their already-sizable lead out of the 16-minute media timeout. Cook opened fire with a nothing-but-net 3-pointer, then Thornton found a streaking Plumlee on a breakaway on the ensuing Duke possession. One possession after that, Cook showed outstanding awareness by tipping a long offensive rebound straight into Thornton's hands under the basket. Florida State has managed to make some headway scoring in the second half, with a 7-for-13 showing after an 8-for-28 performance in the first half. But their efforts have not been enough against the continuing offensive onslaught from the Blue Devils
Duke 55, Florida State 34 (14:57, second half): Florida State's offensive struggles continued out of the gate despite flashes of potential. On their first possession, the Seminoles got a man open under the basket, but threw a bad pass out of bounds on the alley-oop attempt, and then got an open jumper for Aaron Thomas off a ball screen but Thomas missed the shot. Duke took advantage with an 8-0 run to open the half, actually raising their stellar shooting percentage from the first half in the process. As the 16-minute media timeout approached, though, the first points of the game from Seminole star senior Michael Snaer helped get the Tucker Center crowd back into the game and reduce the Duke lead to 21.
Duke 42, Florida State 22(halftime): With the game quickly getting out of hand in Duke's favor, Mike Krzyzewski has had the luxury of resting Mason Plumlee for an extended stretch with two fouls, letting Josh Hairston and Amile Jefferson take over some minutes together in the post. Duke has not missed a beat without its star big man, holding an athletic Florida State frontcourt to just 9 points and one offensive rebound in the first half. Duke closed out the half with a drive-and-dish from Rasheed Sulaimon to a cutting Josh Hairston, marking the Blue Devils' ninth assist among their 18 field goals. Offensive execution has been excellent for Duke, which has contributed to their incredible 62-percent shooting performance and 20-point lead in the first half.
Duke 36, Florida State 12 (3:34, first half): Early in the game, the score belied the quality of Florida State's play, as the Seminoles were getting some quality looks but the shots weren't falling. As the cold shooting continued, though, the offensive execution began to unravel, with even the most basic perimeter passes becoming risky endeavors and lots of poor ball control. Bad shot selection began to become an issue as well, although the athletic Seminoles still managed a few good looks at the rim when they were patient with penetration. Their occasional success, though, has been dwarfed by a Duke team still making two-thirds of its shots, including 4-of-7 3-pointers.
Duke 27, Florida State 10 (7:54, first half): Mike Krzyzewski got his second unit on the floor to get some minutes with a large early lead, as Tyler Thornton, Alex Murphy and Marshall Plumlee all got on the floor together for a brief period. The starters got back on the floor quickly, though, and Seth Curry followed up his brief rest with yet another swish from beyond the arc to extend the Duke lead to 14 in the earlygoing. Krzyzewski went back to an unconventional lineup after Mason Plumlee picked up an early second foul, but Josh Hairston and Amile Jefferson held their own even against 7-foot-3 Boris Bojanovsky. Duke's hot shooting continued past the midway point of the half, with a 10-for-15 performance helping the Blue Devils build a commanding 17-point lead on the road.
Duke 18, Florida State 7 (11:48, first half): Leonard Hamilton has been forced to use a pair of early timeouts to stem the Duke tide, first at 9-0 and then again at 18-2 after a very deep three from Seth Curry and a breakaway lay-in from Quinn Cook. Both timeouts seem to have worked for a short period, at least, as a brief spurt from the Seminoles has helped the home team cut the Duke lead back to 11. A thunderous dunk from 7-foot-3 freshman Boris Bojanovsky helped re-ignite a quieted Tallahassee crowd going into the 12-minute media timeout.
Duke 11, Florida State 2 (15:21, first half): Duke's last game, on Wednesday at Wake Forest, was a sloppy, out-of-sync affair, but both teams have looked composed and patient so far at the Tucker Center. The Blue Devils made Florida State pay for a couple of turnovers in the paint, including an excellent block from behind by Amile Jefferson, helping Duke open the game on a 9-o run on 5-of-7 shooting. The Seminoles made just one of their first seven field goal attempts despite having some good looks at the basket.
Pregame: We're here live from the Tucker Center at Florida State for a weekend matchup between No. 5 Duke and Florida State. Both teams are coming off a win, and the youthful Seminoles will look to cut Duke's conference road record to 1-3. Follow along here and on Twitter @dukebasketball for all the latest updates from Tallahassee.
Duke starters: G Quinn Cook, G Seth Curry, G Rasheed Sulaimon, F Amile Jefferson, C Mason Plumlee
Florida State starters: G Terry Whisnant, G Michael Snaer, G Montay Brandon, F Okaro White, C Kiel Turpin
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