3 takeaways as FSU Basketball comes up just short to Duke Blue Devils

The Florida State Seminoles hosted the 6th-ranked Duke Blue Devils in the Tucker Center on Saturday afternoon, hoping to pull off a MASSIVE upset. They played well at UNC earlier in the week, and if they could play with that kind of effort in this game, they'd at least give themselves a chance.

And they gave themselves a REAL chance early. Florida State started 5/6 from three as they got out to a lead, and they never let Duke lead throughout the first half.

FSU had a unique game plan for college basketball's leading scorer, Cam Boozer, fronting the post, and having plenty of helpside defense around him. That limited Boozer's easy looks, but he was still able to get his buckets.

Martin Somerville was big for FSU early, scoring 10 points in the first half, but he also picked up three fouls, and the fouling was the biggest reason Duke was hanging around. At halftime, Florida State was 4/7 from the free-throw line, with two misses on the front end of a 1-and-1, while Duke was a perfect 8/8. And even outside of Somerville having three fouls, Robert McCravy V and Cam Miles each had two.

Duke also started to adjust to how FSU was playing defense, lifting players to "set" screens, bringing help defense away, before they started throwing the ball over the top into the post, which gave Cam Boozer and Patrick Ngongba some easier looks to close the gap, and the game would be tied at 42 at halftime. Even though FSU started 5/6 from three, they only closed 3/11.

Duke took their first lead of the game with a three to start the second half from Isaiah Evans. Something Duke had done well all game was playing out of inbounds sets, being able to swing the ball out of FSU's 1-3-1 trap to get open shots on the other side of the court. After going up by 5, Florida State would respond with a 13-4 run to get back out in front. From there, it was on.

After no lead changes in the first half, the second half saw seven in the first eight minutes. Martin Somerville had picked up his fourth foul early in the half, so Robert McCray V started to get going, putting in 9 points in a span of about three minutes. But Isaiah Evans started to heat up, as he hit two threes at the top of the key to push Duke's lead back up to 5.

That would lead would grow and become a 12-2 run, which ended up being a 9-point lead for Duke. The shots that were falling for FSU early weren't falling anymore. They were also being a lot sloppier with the ball. Duke had gone zone, which slowed FSU's offense.

FSU kept hanging around, and a huge sequence with less than six minutes happened. Kobe MaGee dove for a loose ball and saved it in bounds to force a Duke turnover, and after what could only be described as helter-skelter happened on offense on the other end, it ended up in a corner three for MaGee, and the lead was cut to three.

The lead would bounce between three and six for the next three minutes, but then an Isaiah Evans three from the right wing pushed the lead to seven with just over two minutes left. Kobe MaGee was fouled on a three on the next play, but he only went 1/3 at the line. Robert McCray V hit a DEEP three on the next offensive play, though, and the lead was cut to three.

Cam Boozer was fouled with less than 30 seconds left, and he'd make both to make it a 5-point game. Kobe MaGee responded with a ridiculous three to cut it to two, and FSU would play the foul game. Isaiah Evans made both to push it to four, and that would do it, as FSU would miss on the other end. Duke would go on to win 91-87.

Even though these are two straight losses, they've played tough against UNC and Duke. If they keep playing like this, they're going to be tough to play against the rest of ACC play.

It was great to see Chauncey Wiggins and Robert McCray V bounce back with big performances after mostly struggling at UNC earlier in the week. They have to rely on them for big games against these teams.

FINAL: Really hard fought game, but Florida State falls to Duke 91-87

Game was lost at the FT line, where FSU was 11/16 and Duke was 23/25

C Wiggins 22 pts
R McCray V 22 pts
K MaGee 17 pts

NEXT: vs NC State next Saturday #Noles pic.twitter.com/CcPU7G3mcl
— Austin Veazey (@EasyVeazeyNG) January 3, 2026

1. Shots Were Finally Falling

Florida State was due for a big shooting game at some point, and they finally got it here. Even if their performance at the free-throw line could've been a little better, they still ended up 14/30 from three, which is the biggest reason they were in this game. It's just their second game this year shooting above 40% from three.

2. Free Throws Were A Massive Difference

Duke came into the game as an iffy free-throw shooting team at just 70.1%. They ended up making their first 16 free throws of the game and would end up 23/25. Meanwhile, FSU was as streaky as they've always been, ending up 11/16 at the line, which could really be called 11/18 since they missed the front end of two bonus free throws. That's a tough pill to swallow in a game you lose by 4.

3. Duke's Zone Gave FSU Fits

Florida State was generating a lot of open threes in the first half, but then Duke went to a zone in the second half, and that made it harder for FSU to get any open looks. They still kept it close thanks to some impossible shots, but they may have to work on playing against zone, even if Duke's was a little funky, as it played like a 3-2 matchup zone.

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