Isaiah Evans made six 3-pointers and poured in a career-high 28 points to help No. 6 Duke come away with a 91-87 win over upset-minded Florida State on Saturday afternoon in Tallahassee, Fla.
Evans scored 18 of his points in the second half and was 6-of-14 from 3-point range to become the first Duke player besides Cameron Boozer to lead the team in scoring since Nov. 21 vs. Niagara.
Boozer still made his presence felt with 17 points, a career-high nine assists and five rebounds. Caleb Foster and Dame Sarr each made three 3-pointers and added 13 points for the Blue Devils (13-1, 2-0 ACC).
Chauncey Wiggins tied his career high with 22 points for Florida State (7-8, 0-2), making 4 of 5 shots from outside the arc. Robert McCray V added 22 points and made 3 of 4 threes with five assists. Kobe MaGee added 17 points, hitting four 3s.
The Seminoles (7-8, 0-2) shot 53.4% from the floor and a season-high 46.7% from 3-point range (14 of 30).
Duke shot 52.8% from the field and sank 12 of 27 from behind the arc.
Clinging to a late lead as the Seminoles surged, the Blue Devils iced the game by making their final three field goals and final six free throws over the last 3:35 of the game to come away with a second consecutive narrow win to begin conference play.
Florida State got off to a scorching start, opening 5-of-6 from 3-point range and 6-of-7 from the floor to create a 17-11 lead with 14:38 left in the first half.
The Seminoles maintained that edge for the vast majority of the first half, with the lead fluctuating between one and seven points. Duke ended the half on a 7-2 run to level the game at 42-all at the intermission.
Boozer had 10 points and five assists at the half, and Evans added 10 points as well.
Florida State shot 55.6% from the field and 47.1% in the first half, led by a half-high 11 points and three 3-pointers from Wiggins.
The Blue Devils finally took their first lead by scoring the first five points of the second half, but the Seminoles responded with a 13-4 run to take a 59-55 lead with 15:05 left.
Duke finally took control with a 12-2 run midway through the second half to open up a 74-65 lead. But again Florida State fought back, cutting the deficit to three points four times in the final 5:25 and two points with 23 seconds left on a Magee three.
