Duke suffers OT loss to FSU on the road
Duke put together a late second half surge, but could not overcome Florida State in overtime.
Duke and Florida State treated fans to yet another classic battle between two of the ACC’s top teams. It seems as if it’s a given that anytime the Blue Devils travel to Tallahassee the game will come down to the wire and require late heroics for either team to leave with the victory.
Tuesday night’s contest was certainly no different, as the Seminoles knocked off the Blue Devils, 79-78 in overtime.
“Our kids fought like crazy,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I thought (RayQuan) Evans made a really tough shot to tie the game, but that’s what he does. He’s a veteran with a big time shot and he made big time free throws, too, to closeout the overtime. And (Caleb) Mills made a huge three in the overtime.
“Tough loss for us. Congratulations to them. Leonard’s (Hamilton) team played their hearts out.
If we’re being honest, most are probably shocked the game provided such high levels of drama in the first place.
In fact, up until the final five minutes of regulation it appeared as if Florida State would shut the door on the Blue Devils at any moment. A quick glance at the box score might indicate something a little different — that Duke played well enough to win the game.
There is some truth to that notion, but the theory really only holds water from the final five minutes, give or take, of the second half and into overtime.
Up until that point, most notably from the start of the second half, Florida State had dominated the game. Duke looked all but done. They were good for much of the opening 20 minutes as well, but the Blue Devils managed to keep things close and even took a 38-33 lead into the half after a 7-0 run over the final 1:54.
“I thought it was the most physical game we’ve been in,” Krzyzewski said. “They knocked us back for most of the first half and at the end of the first half we took some control.
The plan was unfolding as the Duke coaches preferred: close the first half strong, and then put them away to start the second.
Unfortunately for Duke, that is not how things played out.
The Seminoles came out of the break with a renewed focus. And unlike NC State and Wake Forest, Leonard Hamilton’s team had no intentions of being put away in those initial four minutes. Instead, they brought the fight to Duke and outscored them 9-0 in the first 3:17.
“Right away at the start of the second half, they dominated those first four minutes,” Krzyzewski said. “Set a tone. We could’ve been knocked out. Kind of hung in there, and then in the last seven, eight minutes, we changed defenses and that gave us a little bit of rest and I thought it slowed down the momentum of the game. The momentum of the game was definitely going in their favor for most of the game.”
In the snap of a finger, the Blue Devils were trailing 42-38. FSU’s lead stayed within two possessions for most of the half, ultimately peaking with a nine point, 59-50, advantage with 6:52 remaining in the game. At that moment, Duke has scored just 12 points in the second half compared to FSU’s 26.
A lot had gone on leading up to that point: Paolo Banchero had not attempted a field goal in the second half; Trevor Keels had injured his right calf and was helped to the locker room, never returning to action; and Duke had given up 11 offensive rebounds.
Then, Duke shifted to a zone defense. And suddenly the Blue Devils were getting stops and preventing offensive rebounds — the Seminoles had just two offensive boards in the final 14:06 of regulation.
“The zone I think worked just because we were able to keep them out of the paint for the most part, and then just staying engaged and finding their shooters,” Banchero said. “(John) Butler, for the most part, we didn’t let him hit any threes in the second half or down the stretch.”
Duke’s offense followed, as they were beginning to find a rhythm for the first time since the end of the first half.
Banchero, who took his first shot of the second half with 4:12 left to go — a 3-point attempt that torched the net, put the Blue Devils on his back and helped lead the improbable comeback.
The freshman scored seven points in the final 4:53 (he made two free throws prior to his 3-point bucket), and handed out three assists, two to Mark Williams and one to AJ Griffin. He added four more points in overtime play. After being stuck at nine points for most of the second half, Banchero eventually finished with a game-high 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Jeremy Roach, who took the majority of the minutes that Keels left behind, had five of his six assists from the 8:01 mark of the second half to the conclusion of overtime. His ability to push the ball and facilitate the offense was critical for Duke.
“I thought Jeremy Roach played one of his best games, and was really strong with the ball and so was Paolo,” Krzyzewski said. “We were much stronger with the ball during that time period and made really good plays as a result of it. Really, it’s not kind of an X and O game.
“They’re going to take you out of every play, so you’ve got to make plays. I thought we started making plays and Jeremy and Paolo were key to that.”
Duke had somehow taken a 67-65 lead with 30 seconds remaining in regulation. The momentum had seemingly shifted to the Blue Devils’ favor, and it appeared as if they would escape the Seminoles.
But FSU’s Evans had other plans, and made a tough layup with one second left to tie it up and send it into overtime.
The extra five minutes of play were no different than the final five of regulation. For the first time, the game had a flow and the teams were trading heavy blows throughout. Duke found itself trailing 79-78 after Florida State’s Evans made two free throws with 12 seconds to go.
Banchero inbounded the pass into the hands of Wendell Moore Jr., who pushed the ball up the floor but had his shot blocked just before the buzzer, ending the game.
For the game, the lead changed hands 19 times, and was tied in 11 instances. Eight of those lead exchanges happened in the final 5:30 of game action (end of regulation and overtime).
FLORIDA STATE’S LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
The first 15 minutes of the second half were as bad as we’ve seen from Duke this season. The Blue Devils had scored just eight points on 2-of-13 shooting (15.4%) and 1-of-6 from 3-point range (16.7%), while turning the ball over six times and committing seven fouls.
It was ugly.
There was no flow to the offense. Very little ball movement took place. And there were some bad shots mixed in. And oh, by the way, let’s remind everyone that Banchero did not attempt a shot during that stretch either.
“Part of it is they’re doing a helluva job trying not to let him get the ball,” Krzyzewski said. “To credit them, they played outstanding defense. We opened it up more in the last part of the game and as a result he was able to touch the ball more.”
As much of some of Duke’s struggles were self-inflicted, more of it was the result of outstanding defense from the Seminoles. Aside from second chance opportunities as a result of FSU offensive rebounds, Duke attempted 18 fewer shots than the home team. Oddly, Duke made one more shot attempt than FSU, but they did not really begin getting shots off until late in the second half.
Florida State forced 15 Duke turnovers, which resulted in 14 points for the Seminoles. Nine of those came via the steal. Three players recorded double digit steal totals, including three from Evans.
The home team’s physicality played a part in Duke’s turnover issues, but it was also their attention to detail and the way they attacked the Blue Devils ball-handlers and shooters.
“They were in the passing lanes all game. Pressuring all game,” Banchero noted. “They were active all game with their hands when we drove. They did a good job of grabbing at the ball, and stripping. We knew coming in they lead the ACC in steals and they proved why tonight, so credit to them.”
DEFENSIVE REBOUNDING REMAINS A PROBLEM
We won’t harp on this one long, but defensive rebounding continues to be a problem. Duke, after giving up 22 offensive boards to NC State, allowed the Seminoles to pull down 19, 13 of which came in the second half alone.
Nine of those came in the first 2:31 of the second half.
Duke did get a better handle on it late, but it could have cost them the game early on. Somehow, the Blue Devils avoided the knockout blow from the Seminoles as they failed to convert those second chance opportunities to points.
“They and State are the two best offensive rebounding teams in our conference,” Krzyzewski said. “We knew that coming in and they knew that we gave up 22 against State in our last game. As good as they are, they’re going to go even harder.
“Really at the start of the game, and especially at the start of the second half, we gave up multiple offensive rebounds. That could’ve knocked us out for the rest of the game. It didn’t, but a lot of those rebounds came during the first four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half.
“It’s something that we’re working on, that we have to get better in. The defensive rebound is the culmination of a good defensive exchange. Our defense was pretty good, but when you give up shots after that, second and third shots, obviously it’s not a thing you want to do.”
any word on Keels. The fact they let him run down the hallway, come back out onto the bench, and still no word after today makes it seem he is playing Saturday. If he was hurt would expect a announcement but not a announcement that hes ok
There is a common theme in duke’s losses. Turnovers, offensive boards given up, and a lack of or inconsistency in toughness, physically and mentally. I did agree with K that the teams fight at the end is something to be proud of. They could have easily packed it in. I came away very proud of Roach. Thought he played tough and made a bunch of winning plays after Keels went down. Moore has just been poor all around since the Covid break. We need to get him going again and playing intelligent basketball. So many sloppy and unnecessary turnovers cost us. It wasn’t just him, but as the junior captain you can’t be making that many careless mistakes. If we are going to go for blocks on every drive, we need to correct our weak side protection because we are giving out offensive rebounds like they’re Halloween candy. We can correct these things and we can get better, but….now we’ve put ourselves in a hole, yet again, in the hopes of winning the ACC regular season, which is in a down year.