Florida State brought Duke's 45-game home winning streak to a shocking end on Saturday behind Michael Snaer's uncanny long-range shooting.
Snaer drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing from about 22 feet at the buzzer for a 76-73 win at Cameron Indoor Stadium, hitting his shot at the end of five frantic seconds after Duke had forced a 73-73 tie.
Luke Loucks drove the ball down the floor for the Seminoles after Austin's Rivers' layup forged the tie. Loucks used a screen to get past midcourt and, as he neared the top of the key, he passed to Snaer, who was open in front of the Florida State bench.
Duke's Andre Dawkins ran frantically over to the wing, but couldn't get a hand on the ball or distract Snaer enough to force the shot off target.
"There was no time to a run a play; we had to go to our instincts," Snaer said. "Luke saw me and I knew I had to get it up. I just grabbed that thing.
"I can still see the shot right now. When it went in, I was thinking, 'Wow!' All this joy and emotion poured out, and my teammates went crazy. It feels so good."
The shot capped eight remarkable days for the Seminoles.
Florida State hammered North Carolina 90-57 in Tallahassee on Jan. 14. Against Duke, Florida State charged back in the second half after falling behind 58-50 with 9:51 left.
No. 4 Duke led by nine points, at 32-23, in the final seconds of the first half until Snaer struck at the buzzer for the first time in the game. He picked up a loose ball in front of the Blue Devils' bench and banked in a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 32-26 at halftime.
The shots at the ends of both halves were Snaer's only 3-point baskets of the game.
"I feel if I can get the ball up, it's going in the basket," Snaer said. "When it leaves my hand, it's going in."
Duke suffered its first ACC loss of the season, and fell one win shy of tying the school record for consecutive home victories.
Duke's last loss at home came on Feb. 11, 2009, a 101-87 setback to North Carolina.
Duke's Seth Curry said that the Blue Devils' inability to build on an eight-point lead in the second half led to their downfall.
"When we get a seven- or eight-point lead, coach (Mike Krzyzewski) always says we've got to make another run to put them away," Curry said. "We were never able to do that.
"That's the most disappointing part of the game, because we thought we had control of it."
Duke fell to 16-3 overall and to 4-1 in the ACC. Florida State improved to 13-6 and 4-1.
Rivers returned to Duke's starting lineup after a one-game absence and had 19 points. Dawkins was hampered by fouls for much of the game but scored 14 points.
Xavier Gibson led Florida State with 16 points. Snaer finished with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Krzyzewski said the loss was tough for his team, given the leads that it built in each half.
Snaer knew Duke was playing for a slice of school history and implored his teammates to not back down in hostile conditions.
"Any team we play against, they hit us and we hit them back," Snaer said.
"I told my teammates, 'Keep punching them. Keep hitting them back. If they punch us, we're going to hit them right back in the mouth.'"
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement