Duke Embodies Survive & Advance in 1-Pt Win

The top-seeded Duke Blue Devils entered onto the court for the first time in the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Men's Basketball Tournament for the quarterfinal round after automatically advancing through the first two rounds thanks to being a top-four seed in the conference. In 31 games, the Blue Devils compiled a record of 29-2, including a 17-1 performance in the ACC.

They drew the 8th-seeded Florida State Seminoles (18-14 overall, 10-8 ACC plus an ACC Tournament Round 2 win) who had defeated the 9th-seeded Cal Golden Bears (21-11 overall, 9-9 ACC).

Freshman guard Cayden Boozer was the first to get either team on the scoreboard, going inside for two for Duke.

This was followed by sophomore guard/forward Isaiah Evans on the Blue Devils' second possession, giving them an early 4-0 lead.

Freshman forward Cameron Boozer would also go inside for two, making it 9-3 Duke, with the only points scored by Florida State coming at the 18:24 mark on a three by senior forward Chauncey Wiggins.

At the media timeout that occurred at the 15:29 mark, the Blue Devils led 11-7.

Outside of the break in the action, senior guard Robert McCray, V, got the Seminoles within two on a step-back baseline jumper.

On the very next Florida State possession, senior guard Lajae Jones went inside to tie the game at 11.

The first lead of the night for the Seminoles came at the 14:04 mark from the charity stripe thanks to freshman forward Thomas Bassong going 1-for-2 to make it 12-11 Florida State.

A transition three by Wiggins elevated the Seminoles to a 15-11 lead.

Evans tied the game at 15-all from his 2-for-2 stint at the line at the 12:47 mark.

Jones took on the Duke defense in transition, attacking the rim for two, getting the Seminoles back in the lead at 17-15.

Senior forward Maliq Brown had the chance to tie the game at the line, but missed both free throws.

However, Cameron Boozer grabbed the offensive rebound off of Brown's second miss and Evans cashed in from long distance to give the Blue Devils an 18-17 lead at the 11:04 mark.

Bassong took the lead back for the Seminoles on a layup followed by Duke freshman guard/forward Nikolas Khamenia's three to take it back for the Blue Devils, 21-19.

With 8:43 remaining, Jones third tie of the night, with a three that made it 25-all.

Khamenia once again took the lead back for Duke, but McCray responded with a three from the top of the key to make it 28-27 Florida State.

Fingers could not type as fast the seesaw was leaning back and forth, with the Blue Devils gaining the lead at the 6:44 mark, 30-28, off of a three by Evans.

With 6:01 remaining, Evans went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line, giving him his 16th point of the night.

Sophomore guard Martin Somerville's first points of the night came on a three from the right wing to give the Seminoles a 35-34 lead with 4:48 left in the first half.

Freshman guard/forward Dame Sarr locked the two teams up again, this time at 35-35, when he went 1-for-2 at the line.

Cameron Boozer's 1-for-2 trip to the line gave the game its 10th lead change and Duke the lead at 36-35.

Evans would then nail a three from the left wing to put him over 20 points on the night, at 22, and the Blue Devils ahead by four.

Somerville would see Evans' three and equal it, making it 39-38 Duke at the 2:09 mark.

Jones went inside with less than 1:30 remaining in the first half and gave the Seminoles a 40-39 lead.

The 12th lead change of the first half occurred when Cameron Boozer made both of his free throws with exactly one minute left on the game clock.

Jones would get his 15th and 16th point from the free-throw line with 38.1 seconds to go in the opening half, enacting the 13th lead change of the game at 42-41 Florida State.

Cameron Boozer hit two more free throws with 20.1 seconds on the game clock to give Duke a 43-42 lead.

Then, McCray beat the first-half buzzer with a jumper to send the Seminoles into the locker room with a 44-43 lead.

In total, there were 15 lead changes and five ties in the first half.

The Seminoles would not trail in almost the entire first 10 minutes of the second half, with a layup by Brown at the 10:14 mark giving the Blue Devils a 62-61 lead.

Duke would never look back from there, leading Florida State for the final 10:14 of the game.

The Seminoles got their deficit to one point on two occasions in the final 1:28, including off of a jumper by Wiggins with 37 seconds to go, but the Blue Devils would not allow a point after that, holding on for an 80-79 victory.

Duke will advance to face the winner of the final ACC Quarterfinal game between the 4th-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels and the 5th-seeded Clemson Tigers.