DURHAM, N.C. (SEMINOLES.COM) — Duke’s Ryan Young earned game-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds as No. 17 Duke earned their 11th victory of the season in an 86-67 win over the Seminoles at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Young led three Blue Devils in double figure scoring, Jaylen Blakes (17 points) and Dariq Whitehead (16 points) to improve Duke’s ACC record to 2-1. Florida State is now 2-2 in ACC play.
Florida State started off strong against the Blue Devils, leading their opponent in the opening minutes of the game. Duke gained momentum in the middle of the first half with a 10-0 scoring run over three minutes and maintained that precision as they ended the half making five of their last six field goals to lead 42-25.
Caleb Mills and Darin Green Jr. led the Seminoles with nine points each in the first half, alongside Matthew Cleveland, who continued his rebounding efforts with a team-high four rebounds.
Florida State shot nine for 25 (.360) from the field and three for 10 (.300) from beyond the arc in the first half. The Seminoles turned their game around following the intermission, marking their biggest scoring run of the game with a 6-0 run over two minutes, holding Duke to their longest scoring drought of the game of nearly three minutes.
In the second half, Florida State fought to close the gap and, at one point, outscoring the Blue Devils 26-22 with nine minutes left in the game. In the closing minutes, Duke went on a 14-1 scoring run over nearly five minutes, resulting in their biggest lead of the game of 25 points, 81-56.
Compared to the first half score (25-42), the Seminoles scored 42 points to their opponents’ 44 in the second half. Florida State shot .500 (12-24) from the field and .850 (17-20) from the free throw line after intermission, a drastic difference from their first half performance.
Mills continues to be Florida State’s all-time leading free throw shooter, shooting seven for nine (.778) from the charity stripe, totaling a .823 shooting percentage (51-62) for the season thus far.
Green Jr. reached a milestone of 250 career 3-point field goals made, hitting the impressive career mark with two made three-pointers against Duke.
Cleveland’s 18 point and 10 rebound addition to the New Year’s Eve game marked his eighth consecutive game in double figure scoring and fourth consecutive double-double scoring for the Julius Erving Award nominee. He is the first Seminole with four consecutive double efforts since Douglas Edwards during the 1992-93 season.
Cleveland was a perfect 10 of 10 from the free throw line. His 10 free throws made is tied for the 15th most in school history in an ACC game, while his 10 of 10 perfection made him just the fifth player in school history to be perfect on at least 10 free throws in an ACC game. The last player to make at least 10 of 10 free throws in an ACC for the Seminoles was RaiQuan Gray against Wake Forest on February 13, 2021.
Florida State returns home to the Donald L. Tucker on Saturday, January 7th to face off against Georgia Tech in the sixth ACC game of the season with tip off at 1pm. The Seminoles hold a 44-32 winning record over the Yellow Jackets.
