For the second time in the past five years Duke came into Tallahassee ranked No. 1 in the nation and for the second time they go back to Durham with a loss. This time it was a 66-61 loss on Wednesday night and it was a win the Seminoles desperately needed according to Tomahawk Nation.
Florida State Defeats No. 1 Duke: Desperate Seminoles Notch Another Duke Upset
Coming off a three loss road trip (in 6 games) including an inexcusable loss at Auburn, Florida State was in desperate need of a big win to get them back onto the right side of the tournament bubble. That win came tonight.
FSU forgot about the 3-guard lineups they’ve been playing, and instead started Terrance Shannon in place of Deividas Dulkys. Duke was unable to counter the inside presence. The Duke defense repeatedly collapsing on the interior opened lanes for Derwin Kitchen to operate, and he responded by leading the Noles with his second career double-double at 20 points and 10 rebounds, adding 3 steals and 3 assists, and shooting 3-4 from beyond the arc. He was aggressive at the elbow, and if you doubt his value Duke looked like they’d run away with the game in the few moments when Leonard Hamilton tried to rest him.
Chris Singleton added 18 points, though his biggest contribution came on the defensive end where he held Kyle Singler to 0-5 shooting in the 1st half with 5 turnovers. Why Duke let Singler go one-on-one with Singleton is a mystery, but in the 2nd half they came out with multiple screens to get switches and allow Singler to go to work against other players. Singler scored 18 of his 20 points after the break. But Duke didn’t get much help from anyone else – Nolan Smith scored 19, but on an inefficient line of 17 shots.
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