TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — There were about 15 seconds left here on Wednesday night in Florida State’s game against Duke when a Florida State athletic department administrator standing near the court nodded to another official. The message was understated but simple: Yes let them rush the court. Let them enjoy this.
Let them savor Florida State 66, Duke 61: The Seminoles fifth victory in school history against a top-ranked team.
And so they did. Time ran out and the people rushed on. Some tripped over themselves and over TV cables. Some were trampled. All casualties of the wildest celebration seen here at the Tucker Center since the Seminoles last beat a No.
That victory back then came with Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton attempting to build a program. This victory on Wednesday night came with Hamilton trying to build on his program’s back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.
The victory against Duke, which had its 25-game winning streak snapped, was important for a couple reasons: For one it gives the Seminoles the kind of marquee victory they’d lacked. But it also proved that maybe Florida State, which had lost consecutive ugly games at Auburn and at Virginia Tech, can be as good as it thought it could be.
Hamilton said before the season he thought this was the best collection of talent he’d assembled at Florida State. The Seminoles, led by Derwin Kitchen’s 22 points, finally justified Hamilton’s assertion.
And they did it with a style that has personified Hamilton’s better teams: With tough, gritty defense and with just enough offense to win.
Florida State led 28-24 at halftime and 59-58 with 2:27 to play. Kitchen made a runner to push the lead back to three and Chris Singleton and Michael Snaer each made a pair of free throws in the closing minutes.
That was important but equally so was the Seminoles’ defense, which held Duke to a season-low 31.1 percent shooting. In their first 15 games, the Blue Devils hadn’t shot less than 40 percent.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski wasn’t surprised, for one. He said this was the Florida State he expected to see the one that no one had seen during the Seminoles’ past two games.
The Seminoles, Krzyzewski said, played with "an unbelievable amount of emotion and their defense was just great."
And a good number of the sellout crowd here at the Tucker Center crowded onto the court and enjoyed a moment they won’t soon forget
Let them savor Florida State 66, Duke 61: The Seminoles fifth victory in school history against a top-ranked team.
And so they did. Time ran out and the people rushed on. Some tripped over themselves and over TV cables. Some were trampled. All casualties of the wildest celebration seen here at the Tucker Center since the Seminoles last beat a No.
That victory back then came with Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton attempting to build a program. This victory on Wednesday night came with Hamilton trying to build on his program’s back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.
The victory against Duke, which had its 25-game winning streak snapped, was important for a couple reasons: For one it gives the Seminoles the kind of marquee victory they’d lacked. But it also proved that maybe Florida State, which had lost consecutive ugly games at Auburn and at Virginia Tech, can be as good as it thought it could be.
Hamilton said before the season he thought this was the best collection of talent he’d assembled at Florida State. The Seminoles, led by Derwin Kitchen’s 22 points, finally justified Hamilton’s assertion.
And they did it with a style that has personified Hamilton’s better teams: With tough, gritty defense and with just enough offense to win.
Florida State led 28-24 at halftime and 59-58 with 2:27 to play. Kitchen made a runner to push the lead back to three and Chris Singleton and Michael Snaer each made a pair of free throws in the closing minutes.
That was important but equally so was the Seminoles’ defense, which held Duke to a season-low 31.1 percent shooting. In their first 15 games, the Blue Devils hadn’t shot less than 40 percent.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski wasn’t surprised, for one. He said this was the Florida State he expected to see the one that no one had seen during the Seminoles’ past two games.
The Seminoles, Krzyzewski said, played with "an unbelievable amount of emotion and their defense was just great."
And a good number of the sellout crowd here at the Tucker Center crowded onto the court and enjoyed a moment they won’t soon forget
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