Florida State Seminoles vs Duke Blue Devils Basketball Recap

Florida State 66, Duke 61

Not all basketball games are created equal. Thankfully, just one week after enduring a particularly crippling loss, the Florida State Seminoles found a way to grab a season-reviving victory.

This was must-win territory for Coach Leonard Hamilton’s FSU crew on Wednesday night. The Seminoles, playing at home inside the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center, needed to beef up an NCAA Tournament resume that was short on substance. Just nine days earlier, Florida State lost to an Auburn team that carries an RPI rating in the 300s. That loss did untold damage to FSU’s NCAA hopes, so with the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils traveling to the Florida panhandle for this ACC clash, a victory was desperately needed to counterbalance the Auburn embarrassment. Sure enough, Hamilton’s hardwood heroes were able to get the job done against coach Mike Krzyzewski’s defending national champions.

The key to this game was two-pronged, but it boiled down to the same overarching and essential fact: Florida State had extra people step up, while Duke basically became a two-man team. Teams that score big upsets need role players to emerge and be at their best, while favored teams lose precisely when their own role players fade into the background and make no meaningful contributions whatsoever. Sure enough, those ingredients were mixed into this basketball battle in front of a raucous Florida State crowd.

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The hero for FSU was guard Derwin Kitchen. The senior had been averaging fewer than 10 points per game entering this contest, but against Duke, the Kitchen got cooking almost as much as former Detroit Piston great Vinnie Johnson, who owned the nickname “The Microwave.” Kitchen whipped up a winning recipe for his team, throwing down 22 points and – just as instructively – doing so on 9-of-13 shooting. The terrifically efficient performance from Kitchen lent stability and form to a Florida State offense that has been unwatchable this season against good opponents. Florida State is averaging 71 points per game, but that number includes 97-point performances against cupcake opponents such as North Carolina-Greensboro and Stetson. Against elite foes, FSU has been held in the 50s (on average), preventing this superb defensive team from accomplishing more on the court. Florida State is ninth in the entire United States in terms of defensive points per possession allowed, with .833. The Noles know how to defend, but they haven’t scored with the regularity Hamilton needs. On Wednesday, Kitchen lit up the scoreboard in support of teammate Chris Singleton’s 18 points. That’s why the Noles were able to exult after 40 minutes of sweat and struggle.

Duke, meanwhile, lost because its stars were not supported by a Kitchen-like effort. Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith hit 8-of-18 3-pointers between the two of them. They combined for 39 points and hit stacks of big shots down the stretch to keep the Blue Devils close. However, guards Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins – asked to step up with teammate Kyrie Irving still on the shelf due to an injury suffered in the fall – could not carry their share of the load. The two role players didn’t help out the Singler-Smith combo. Curry and Dawkins combined to hit just 2-of-14 3-pointers and were completely flustered by Florida State’s defense.

One team rose, the other team fell… and that was just in terms of the flow of play. Florida State also rose in the NCAA Tournament pecking order; Duke will now relinquish the No. 1 ranking to the Ohio State Buckeyes next week.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer