Seminoles take another big win at Cameron
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hgutmann@heraldsun.com; 419-6668
DURHAM — Every time Duke made a shot Saturday, Florida State junior Michael Snaer made it a point to immediately sprint down the court.
He expected the Blue Devils to make plays, but the key was not to hang his head in disappointment.
So when Austin Rivers tied the game on an acrobatic layup with 4.9 seconds left, Snaer did what he had been doing all game — he ran as fast as he could to the offensive end.
Seminoles guard Luke Loucks dribbled down the court and found Snaer, who hit an open 3-pointer at the buzzer to give FSU a 76-73 upset win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“It really wasn’t me,” Snaer said. “I just hit a wide-open shot. That was a great pass by Luke.”
A year ago, the Seminoles broke then-No. 1 Duke’s 25-game winning streak, but that was in Tallahassee. The only other time FSU won in Durham in 18 attempts was in 2007 — which also was the last time Duke lost to an unranked opponent.
“Here in Cameron, it is different,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. “This is one of the top four winningest programs in college basketball history. It takes on a different significance.”
Florida State (13-6, 4-1) may be known for its defense, but it was shots like Snaer’s that led to the win. The Seminoles shot 67 percent in a 50-point second half and overcame a 58-50 deficit with 10 minutes left.
Snaer told his teammates beforehand that Saturday’s game was going to be a grind. The Blue Devils were going to make runs. The crowd was going to get loud.
After all, No. 4 Duke (16-3, 4-1) has won 45 games in a row at home, and 64 in a row against unranked opponents.
“But if we stay together and we keep pounding and trust that we’re the better team, if we just have that confidence, it really helps your team out a lot,” Snaer said.
Snaer also was anxious to make up for his missed chances in overtime losses to Connecticut and Princeton earlier this season.
“It’s really not the ones you make that you really remember that much,” Snaer said. “It’s the ones you miss that haunt you even more. Those are the ones that keep you working.”
Snaer never had made a game-winner before, but when Loucks got to midcourt with two seconds left, he saw that Andre Dawkins had left Snaer completely in order to guard the paint. He passed it to Snaer, who released the ball from the right wing with just under a second left.
“Nine times out of 10, it probably wouldn’t work like that,” Loucks said. “But it did work at the perfect time.”
In beating North Carolina by 33 points the previous Saturday, the Seminoles were led by a career-best performance by senior Deividas Dulkys, who scored 32 points on 12-of-14 shooting. But the win against Duke was a group effort, as four players scored at least 12 points.
Florida State now has beaten Duke and UNC in the same season for just the second time — it also beat both teams in a 10-day span in 2002.
After starting conference play with a 20-point loss at Clemson, the Seminoles are now atop the conference standings.
“We have been complacent in the past,” FSU senior Bernard James said. “But those days are behind us.”
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