The Daily Nole

Blue Devils Outlast FSU in Durham, 100-93

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Duke scored the game’s final nine points and Florida State missed its final six shots on Saturday afternoon as the fourth-ranked Blue Devils outlasted No. 24 FSU at Cameron Indoor Stadium, 100-93.

Three seniors and one immensely talented freshman led the way for the two respective teams. That freshman, Duke’s Marvin Bagley, was tremendous with game-highs of 32 points and 21 rebounds as the Blue Devils avoided their first 0-2 ACC start in more than a decade.

Senior Phil Cofer led FSU (11-2, 0-1 ACC) with a career-high 28 points on 11-for-16 shooting, with 22 points coming in the first half. Fellow senior Braian Angola scored a career-high 23 points with four made 3-pointers coming in the second half.

FSU trailed for most of the first half, but used a 15-8 run to close the first half and take a 49-45 lead into the locker room. The lead bloomed to eight early in the second half before Bagley used a 4-point play and an improbable 3-point play to ignite a 14-0 run for Duke.

At that point, it looked like Duke (13-1, 1-1 ACC) may run away with the contest, but the Seminoles scrapped as the lead changed hands 11 times over the final 9:25. FSU’s last lead came on a pair of Terance Mann free throws with 3:30 to play in the game as the Seminoles went ahead, 93-91.

Duke’s Trevon Duval tied the game with a running layup before Wendell Carter put the Blue Devils ahead for good with a basket with 2:29 remaining. A run-out dunk by Carter, who finished the game with 14 points and 16 rebounds, put the exclamation point on the victory.

In addition to double-doubles from Bagley and Carter, senior Grayson Allen scored 22 points for Duke and dished out a game-high six assists. Duval added 16 points on 7 of 14 from the floor and Gary Trent, Jr. scored 14 points and came away with a game-high three steals, but shot just 4-for-16. The Blue Devils got just three total points from their bench.

3-point shooting kept things interesting for FSU as it went 15-for-32 from deep, compared to Duke’s 8-for-30. Where the game was lost for the Seminoles was on the glass as Duke grabbed 23 offensive rebounds and won that battle in total, 53-35.

In addition to career-highs from the FSU seniors, freshmen M.J. Walker and Mfiondu Kabengele each chipped in with 10 points. Angola led the team with eight rebounds. Mann, the team’s leading scorer coming in, was held scoreless until past the 11-minute mark in the second half, but finished with nine points and tied Trent Forrest with a team-high five assists.

Things won’t get much easier from here for FSU, which returns home Wednesday to take on North Carolina. Duke will be at N.C. State next Saturday.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson

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