STATE-ment Win

Simply put, this was a great win for Duke tonight. Last year, this team would've folded like bad hand in poker but this year, I am seeing an increased level of toughness both mentally and physically.

Box Score

First Half: The Jon Sheyer show. Sheyer was a man child over a 5 minute stretch that allowed Duke to make a 16-0 run. He hit everything: 3's in transition, 3's from the corner, inside and a foul, and a brilliant fade away and a foul at the end of the 1st Half. It was clearly his greatest performance as a Blue Devil, even better than the performance last year against Miami. He, along with Taylor King, are instant offense off the bench and really add another dimension to Duke's half court and full court offense.

Second Half: Last year, FSU rawed back from 17 down to upset the Blue Devils at Cameron. With about 7 minutes left in this game, it looked like deja vu. The Seminoles, led by Jason "Richie" Rich, started spreading the floor and attacking off the dribble at will and Duke had absolutely no answer. This run culminated with a lay-in by Rich making it 55-54 and it appeared as if Duke's problems on the road from a year ago were not behind them in the least. However, down 55-54, and having absolutely no continuity whatsoever in the half court, Sheyer and Singler worked a pick and pop and Kyle Singler hit the biggest shot of the game to make it 57-55.

Quick sidebar: I personally love Singler. He had the courage to take the big 3 to force OT against Pitt, he single-handedly won the Marquette game for them in Maui and when Duke needed him the most tonight, he had the courage to hit the big shot. Also, can we call Rip Hamilton and ask him where he gets his masks? Let's get Singler one of those before he becomes completely undatable. The season is only 15 games old and he now has 3 large gashes on his face that will certainly scar as well as a yellowish left side of his face. Singler really gives them that toughness mentally and physically that McRoberts could never muster in his two meager seasons as a Dukie.

After the Singler huge shot, it was the Greg Paulus show. Amazing, considering Paulus was so unbelievably dreadful up until this point that the FSU fans frequently chanted "We want Paulus" while he was on the bench. Well, BRB has one thing to say to those fans: be careful what you wish for. Paulus had a series of winning plays in the final minutes of this game. First, he came up with a steal and a layup. Then, as the shot clock was winding down, he penetrated to the hoop and hit a big layup and then on the defensive again, he stripped the masked man on FSU and then literally took two punches to the head (one intentional) to preserve the win.

I can't stress this enough but this was a gut check for Duke and they answered the bell. I know FSU is severely undermanned in the front court right now but to win in that setting, a place where even the most dominant Duke teams of old have failed, is a huge accomplishment and really sends this team back home on a high note to play a very strong Clemson squad.

Player of the Game: Jon Sheyer, although he wasn't a really big factor in the 2nd Half, he earned his stripes with an amazing 1st Half off the bench.

Play of the Game: Kyle Singler's 3 after Duke went down 55-54.

Bonehead Coaching Move of the Day: Clearly, when Leonard Hamilton called a timeout after Singler hit that 3 point shot. It made absolutely no sense, it killed the FSU momentum, and left them with only one timeout.

Next up is Clemson at Cameron Indoor on Saturday. I will post a preview later in the week with a prediction...