Posted: 9:15 PM Feb 23, 2012

Florida State vs. Duke

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Reserve Andre Dawkins scored 22 points
and freshman Austin Rivers added 20 to lead No. 5 Duke to a 74-66
victory over No. 15 Florida State on Thursday night.

The win kept the Blue Devils (24-4, 11-2) tied with No. 7 North
Carolina for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference while
Florida State (19-8, 10-3) dropped a game behind.

Dawkins scored 18 points over the last 11:23 of the first half,
going 5 of 7 from 3-point range as Duke took a 39-32 lead. The Blue
Devils took the lead for keeps at 17-15 on a layup by Rivers with
10:44 remaining in the half.

Ryan Kelly added 13 points and Miles Plumlee had 10 for Duke,
which shot 42.3 percent from the field, including 13 of 28 from
3-point range.

Michael Snaer had 18 points for the Seminoles, while Bernard
James added 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots. Snaer, whose first of two buzzer-beating game-winning 3-pointers this
season ended Duke's 45-game home winning streak 33 days ago, sat out the last 9:49 of the first half after drawing his second
personal foul.

The Seminoles, who have never won an ACC title, beat Duke and
North Carolina last month. But they never got a shot at any
last-second heroics Thursday although they got within three points
twice, the last at 61-58 with 4:17 left on a three-point play by
James.

Dawkins scored 12 points in a 3-minute span that sparked a 14-4
run midway through the half that gave the Blue Devils a 26-17 lead.
The 6-foot-4 Dawkins hit successive 3s just 24 seconds apart a bit
later to give the Blue Devils their largest lead of the half,
39-26. Duke led 53-40 6 minutes into the second half.

Dawkins finished 6 of 9 and Rivers was 4 of 8 from 3-point
range.

Florida State was just 4 of 15 from long range, 12 of 12 at the
free throw line and shot 39.7 percent overall.

Florida State, which had won 10 of its last 11 games, was
unbeaten in six previous conference home games while Duke was
undefeated in six league road games.

The game was as important as any played by the Seminoles on
their home court and with possibly the most buildup since 7-2 Artis
Gilmore led an undefeated Jacksonville team into tiny Tully
Gymnasium 42 years ago to face a Florida State squad led by Dave
Cowens. The Seminoles, who finished 23-3 that season, won that game 89-83 while Jacksonville didn't lose again until meeting UCLA in the national championship game.

Florida State has road games at Miami and No. 25 Virginia before
closing out the regular season at home on March 4 against Clemson.

Duke has Virginia Tech and Wake Forest remaining before its
annual season finale against North Carolina.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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