Florida State Upsets Duke At Cameron

DURHAM, N.C. — Al Thornton scored 21 points and Florida State upset no. 8 Duke 68–67 yesterday to snap a 15-game losing streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Toney Douglas added 15 points and Uche Echefu added 12 for the Seminoles (17–6, 5–4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who overcame a 17-point deficit to claim their first victory on the Blue Devils' fabled home floor.

Duke had two late chances after David McClure rebounded a Douglas miss with about 30 seconds left. The Blue Devils brought it downcourt and called timeout with 7.7 seconds left to set up their final play. DeMarcus Nelson inbounded the ball to Greg Paulus, and he missed a layup.

A jump ball was called on the rebound, and the possession arrow pointed toward Duke. Josh McRoberts took the inbounds pass in the lane with about 2 seconds left, and his floater rimmed out. Nelson's stickback attempt bounced off the rim as time expired.

Paulus finished with a career-high 23 points for Duke (18–5, 5–4), which has lost two straight in the final seconds and now must beat rival North Carolina on Wednesday to avoid their first three-game losing streak since 1999 — when the Blue Devils lost their last game of the 1998-99 season and dropped their first two in 1999–00.

Nelson scored 14 points and McRoberts added 12 for Duke, which held Florida State scoreless over the final 3:18 but couldn't hit the big shot in the final moments.