FSU Basketball: Noles lose a heartbreaker to Duke at the buzzer

FSU basketball looked to build on their big home win against rival Miami earlier in the week. They were inches away from pulling off a huge upset over Duke.

First Half

No. 13 FSU basketball hosted No. 1 Duke Saturday in front of a sellout crowd. The Noles had played Duke tough the last few years in particularly at home and this game was no different.

We talked about how FSU matched up well with Duke stylistically with the point spread only being seven points in favor of Duke.

The Noles took a lot of bad shots and turned the ball over 11 times in the first half but found themselves up 39-38 at the half despite being on the verge of going down double digits a number of times.

They were led by Mfiondu Kabengele and Phil Cofer with 13 and 11 points in the first half. They combined to shoot five of eight from three point land.

The Noles also made seven of eight free throws in the first half compared to just two of four for Duke.

FSU basketball also outrebounded Duke overall 24 to 21 with Duke holding a +1 edge offensive boards.

The Noles ended the first half on an 8-0 run.

Second Half

The Noles opened up the second half hot from the floor with three alley opp buckets, but so did Duke as they made back-to-back three pointers in the first three minutes of half. Duke did a great job scoring in transition as well, taking a 48-45 lead with 16:29 left in the game.

The Noles responded with a small run of their own to take a 52-48 lead with 15:06 to go. A huge three pointer by Phil Cofer after a sloppy possession put the Noles up 55-50.

FSU repeatedly threw up alley opp dunks to score and RJ Barrett seemingly kept Duke in the game as Zion Williamson sat out after getting poked in the eye late in the first half. A Barrett three-pointer tied the game at 61-61 with just over nine minutes remaining.

A huge three by Jack White put Duke up 69-66 with 6:45 remaining. The Noles missed an opportunity as White shot three-pointers on back-to-back possessions and missed both, but two M.J. Walker free throws tied the game at 69-69 with 5:35 remaining.

P.J. Savoy was fouled on a three pointer and made all three shots to give the Noles the lead 72-71 with 4:34 to go.

However, a Cam Reddish three-pointer after FSU fumbled a blocked shot out of bounds put the Blue Devils up 74-72 on their next possession.

A Trent Forrest drive to the basket tied it up at 74-74, but RJ Barrett answered for Duke on their next possession.

Two free throws from Mfiondu Kabengele tied the game back up at 76-76 with 2:01 remaining. P.J. Savoy was fouled on a three pointer as the shot clock was expiring. There was 15.8 remaining in the game and Savoy made two of three to give the Noles a 78-76 lead.

RJ Barrett drove to the basket and was fouled. He made the first and missed the second free throw but the Noles fumbled the rebound out of bounds with 2.8 remaining with the Noles up 78-77 to go.

Duke’s Cam Reddish hit a three-point shot with .08 seconds left to give Duke the lead 80-78. FSU’s inbound didn’t amount to anything and the Noles fall at the buzzer.

Duke’s RJ Barrett led all scorers with 31 points. FSU’s Mfiondu Kabengele led FSU basketball with 24 points respectively.