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DURHAM, North Carolina (Ticker) -- This time, top-ranked Duke left overmatched Florida State no room for late heroics. Mike Dunleavy scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Dahntay Jones added 18 as the Blue Devils easily avenged their lone loss of the season, 80-49, over the Seminoles in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup. "Mike has really played well all year long," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Dahntay, in every game since the last Florida State game, has really played well." Duke (21-1, 9-1 ACC) shook off a sluggish first half that resulted in a season-low 27 points and a four-point edge. The Blue Devils took command in the second stanza when Jones did all the scoring in a 7-2 run for a 34-25 lead with 18 minutes remaining. Dunleavy's driving dunk with 10:10 to go capped a 12-0 run and put Duke ahead, 56-38, and it was well on its way to avenging a 77-76 loss in Tallahassee on January 6. "We didn't play as hard as we could have in the first half and our defense was holding us in the game," Jones said. "We were sluggish on offense and we couldn't get a lot of shots to go in. But we just turned it on in the second half and turned a lot of things around." Carlos Boozer added 12 points and 12 boards for the Blue Devils, who won their ninth in a row. Chris Duhon had 10 points and 10 assists and Jason Williams, invisible most of the way, came away with just seven points to go with six assists. It was only the second time this season the sophomore failed to score in double digits. "The second half, we came out, we were settled down and great things happened for us," said Duhon, who recorded his first career double-double. "When we feed off each other, things go well for us." Michael Joiner led the way for the Seminoles (10-11, 3-7) with 13 points. Florida State shot 31 percent (20-of-64) from the field, including a woeful 3-of-14 from three-point range. "The biggest difference in the game was we couldn't put the ball in the hole. We were in it with about 12 minutes to go in the second half and we just stopped scoring," Seminoles coach Steve Robinson said. "They got some things to fall and that just opened the floodgates." Duke shot just 31 percent (11-of-36) in the first half while committing 14 turnovers. The Blue Devils came in averaging 13.7 giveaways per game. But it was a different story over the final 20 minutes, especially from 3-point range. Bouncing back from a 1-of-11 performance from long range in the first half, the Blue Devils connected on 7-of-13 and shot 60 percent (21-of-35) overall in the second. Dunleavy led the way with a game-high four 3-pointers. Duke held a 44-38 lead with 12:53 to go when it came alive offensively while clamping down on the mistake-prone Seminoles. Daniel Ewing nailed a wide-open 3-pointer and Dunleavy followed with a bucket and a 3-pointer. Jones made a layup before Dunleavy, who scored 13 in the second half, faked a 3-pointer and drove the lane for an emphatic dunk. Both offenses started off slowly. The Blue Devils missed 12 of their first 13 shots and fell behind by as many as four points before taking the lead for good, 10-8, on Boozer's jumper 9:18 into the contest. The Seminoles, who committed 24 turnovers, have lost four in a row -- three coming by more than 21 points. |
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