The 2011-12 season for Florida State is without question viewed as the best under head coach Leonard Hamilton. That year, the Seminoles won 25 games and their only ACC title en route to earning a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
There are many memorable moments from that season from a 33-point beatdown of North Carolina to taking down the Tar Heels again for the conference crown, but perhaps the most memorable came on one of college’s basketball’s grandest stages — Cameron Indoor Stadium.
On Jan. 21, 2012, the Seminoles rallied late to beat Duke 76-73 on Michael Snaer’s 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded. The win not only proved that FSU was a force to be reckoned with in the ACC, but it ended Duke’s 45-game home winning streak.
“That Duke game is one of my favorite memories from my time at Florida State,” Luke Loucks, a senior guard at the time, told The Daily Nole last year. “It was such an intense game and we knew it was going to come down to the last few possessions.”
Fourth-ranked Duke was in control for most of the first half, but Snaer, a junior guard for the Seminoles, gave his team some momentum by banking in a 3-pointer as the first half horn sounded to cut the lead to 32-26 at the break.
Duke’s lead stood at eight midway through the first half before Florida State started to seize momentum, eventually taking the lead. Duke guard Austin Rivers’ free throw with just more than a minute to play put the Blue Devils up 70-69, but Snaer answered with a pull-up jumper with 56 seconds left to put FSU back in front.
After Loucks and forward Xavier Gibson, who led the Seminoles with 16 points, each split a pair of free throws to put FSU ahead 73-71, Rivers had the answer. Rivers’ driving layup with less than five seconds remaining evened the game. Rivers led all scorers with 19 points.
Rather than take a timeout following the bucket, Loucks pushed the ball down the court. Loucks was able to draw the defense toward him.
“Bernard James set a beautiful screen before half court and I originally planned to drive as far as I could to the basket and maybe attempt a close shot or try to draw a foul,” Loucks said. “Right as I passed (James) I noticed Andre Dawkins for Duke turn his head towards me and take a few steps my way to help the defense.”
That’s when Loucks found Snaer in the right corner for the game-winning 3-pointer — the first of six game-winners Snaer would hit in his FSU career.
“It really was a fairly instinctual decision to pass to the open man for a good shot,” Loucks said. “Michael was a great shooter and when it was crunch time, he had tremendous focus to be ready to shoot the tough shots.”
Florida State would lose to Duke when the teams met in Tallahassee a month later, but would win the rubber game in the ACC Tournament semifinals. Up until this month, that was the last victory for FSU over the Blue Devils.
Snaer scored 14 points in the road win. His buzzer-beater serves as FSU’s last win in Durham and is probably the most memorable moment in the history of the series. It happened on this day five years ago.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
You must be logged in to post a comment Login