• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Dawkins and Duke shoot down Florida State

Feb 24, 2012 - 5:30 AM Tallahassee, FL (Sports Network) - Andre Dawkins couldn't miss, and his three- point touch rubbed off on his teammates.

Dawkins drained six treys as part of a 22-point night, and No. 5 Duke made 13 three-pointers in a 74-66 victory over 15th-ranked Florida State at the Tucker Center.

The Blue Devils (24-4, 11-2 ACC) kept pace with North Carolina in the ACC standings behind strong shooting and four players in double figures. Austin Rivers added 20 points, Ryan Kelly scored 13 and Miles Plumlee added 10. Duke avenged a 76-73 loss to the Seminoles back in late January and won its fifth straight game.

"It was just a great, physical, hard basketball game," said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "With every kid playing so hard, we feel honored to have won that game."

Michael Snaer led Florida State (19-8, 10-3) with 18 points, while Bernard James added 13 points and nine rebounds. The Seminoles' main sharpshooter, Deividas Dulkys, didn't join in the three-point parade, scoring just three points on 1-of-6 shooting.

"We fought back several times, but couldn't get over that hump tonight," said Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton.

Duke led by double digits during the early stages of the second half, but an ankle injury forced Rivers to sit for a few minutes, leading to a Seminoles rally. James' dunk got the home team within 55-52, but each and every time, Duke had a three-point answer. Kelly drained a corner trey for a 61-55 game, and after James' three-point play, it was Seth Curry who connected from long range to reinsert the six-point edge. The Seminoles never got closer than five the rest of the way.

Duke drained seven first-half triples, one off its per-game average, in the opening 20 minutes with five of those off Dawkins' right hand. The streaky shooter was feeling it from all over, surrounding each side of the arc with daggers to keep Florida State at arm's length.

The Blue Devils took an 11-4 lead before foul trouble started mounting. Both Miles Plumlee and Kelly picked up two quick fouls, and the Seminoles took advantage, dashing to the hoop without fear and taking a 13-12 lead on Jon Kreft's slam just over seven minutes in.

Duke regained its footing with the aide of long-range shooting, rattling off 13 of the next 15, with nine of those points from Dawkins, the final three from beyond the arc for a 23-15 game. The Seminoles again charged back, coinciding with Miles Plumlee's third foul, closing within 26-23 and again at 29-26 before the Blue Devils scored 10 in a row with Dawkins' back-to-back treys opening the largest lead at that point, 39-26.

Florida State scored the final six of the half, but still trailed 39-32 thanks in large part to Dawkins' 18 points.

Game Notes

Duke improved to 7-0 on the road in ACC play...Florida dropped its first conference home game...The Blue Devils outscored the Seminoles by 27 points from beyond the arc...Florida State stayed in the game with 16 offensive rebounds.