Despite mounting injuries to key starters, Duke dug deep for a thrilling ACC Tournament win, showcasing resilience and unexpected depth.
Florida State made it hard, but Duke came through in the end to earn an 80-79 win in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal on Thursday night at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Seminoles received key play from Lajae Jones, adding 28 points, and Robert McCray, scoring 25 points. But Isaiah Evans' 32 points was the game's high, and Cameron Boozer added 23 in the one-point win for the Blue Devils.
Duke knew they faced a difficult challenge in the ACC Tournament because of injuries. Center Patrick Ngongba II will not play this week because of a foot injury he sustained in a 76-61 win over No. 17 North Carolina on Saturday.
Starting point guard Caleb Foster suffered a broken right foot that will keep him out of the ACC Tournament and the start of the NCAA Tournament next week.
Duke head coach Scheyer believes the earliest Foster could return would be the Final Four.
During his postgame news conference, Scheyer told reporters that playing the new lineup was a challenge.
"Look, it was a different game for us," Scheyer said, via USA Today. "We had different lineups. We were in some positions we haven't been in all year, down eight second half. I think the character that our guys showed in that moment was big time.
"And then that led to some great defense, and finally we got some stops and get out in transition. Both these guys made big-time plays. All seven guys that played really helped."
Freshman guard Nikolas Khamenia played significant minutes (29) off the bench. He added nine points, five rebounds and three assists.
Scheyer doesn't want to make the injuries an excuse for Duke to come up short in the ACC Tournament.
"We're no excuses," Scheyer said. "We've got to step up with the team that we have, get those guys -- they're working like crazy every day.
"And we've got to figure this out, though. I thought it put us in some tough positions tonight that you can't really practice, and we'll learn a lot from it."
Duke will play another pesky team in the ACC on Friday night. The Blue Devils are set to face off against a 24-9 Clemson team that beat No. 19 North Carolina 80-79 on Thursday night.
With some experience gained on Thursday night, Duke hopes the lineup will be better prepared in the semifinals as the program hopes to lock up the No. 1 overall seed.