No. 1 Duke edges Florida State 80-79 in ACC Tournament after Seminoles’ buzzer-beater rims out

By Canadian Press on March 12, 2026.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Isaiah Evans made seven 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 32 points, Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year Cameron Boozer added 23 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 1 Duke survived a scare from Florida State to beat the Seminoles 80-79 on Thursday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The Seminoles had a chance at an upset after Chauncey Wiggins blocked Boozer with seven seconds left, but Robert McCray V’s 3 at the buzzer rimmed out.

Maliq Brown came up with two huge defensive plays to turn the momentum of the game for Duke, had a 19-2 run in the second half after trailing by eight with 13 minutes left. Brown had 12 rebounds.

The Blue Devils (30-2) outrebounded Florida State 46-25 but needed to overcame 28 points from Lajae Jones and 25 from McCray for their ninth straight win. The Seminoles were 11 of 28 on 3s.

Evans, who played high school basketball at nearby North Mecklenburg High, had 28 points against the Seminoles in Duke’s 91-87 victory in January. He was 11 of 20 from the field on Thursday night and 7 of 16 from beyond the arc.

Duke played without starting point guard Caleb Foster, who is out indefinitely with a broken right foot, and starting big man Patrick Ngongba II, who is sitting out this week’s Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament while dealing with his own foot issue.

Florida State led 35-34 at halftime and carried the momentum into the second half, building a 59-51 lead seven minutes in behind 10 quick points from McCray.

But Boozer scored on offensive rebound and then drilled a 3 from the top of the key on consecutive possessions to ignite a 19-2 run. Brown, the ACC’s defensive player of the year and sixth man of the year, had two steals during the run leading to Duke layups.

But Florida battled back to cut the lead to 80-79 behind Jones before McCray’s miss at the buzzer.

Up next

Florida State: Awaits a potential bid to the NIT.

Duke: Will face the winner of Clemson and No. 24 North Carolina on Friday.

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Steve Reed, The Associated Press

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