Butler’s block seals Florida State’s OT win over No. 6 Duke

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State let a late lead evaporate in regulation. Given another chance in overtime, the Seminoles got it done against No. 6 Duke.

RayQuan Evans made a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left in overtime, John Butler blocked Wendell Moore Jr.’s driving attempt in the lane with 2 seconds remaining, and Florida State stunned Duke 79-78 on Tuesday night.

Florida State (11-5, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) led by nine in the second half but ended up needing Evans’ driving layup high off the glass with 2 seconds left to send the game to overtime. The Seminoles held on for their first win over a ranked Duke team since Jan. 10, 2017, and their 14th win over an AP Top 25 team in the last four seasons.

“I thought our effort was at a level 5 tonight, offensively and defensively,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “It took a tremendous effort on our kids’ part.”

Caleb Mills had 16 of his 18 points in the second half and overtime for Florida State, which won its fourth straight game. Butler, a freshman, scored a career-high 14 points, and Naheem McLeod had season highs of nine points and seven rebounds for the Seminoles.

Paolo Banchero had 20 points and 12 rebounds, the fourth straight game the freshman has scored 20 or more, and Mark Williams had 15 points and seven rebounds for Duke (14-3, 4-2).

Duke trailed 59-50 with 6:53 remaining, but a 3-pointer by Moore kicked off a furious rally by the Blue Devils, who went ahead 67-65 on Williams’ dunk with 30 seconds to go. Banchero scored seven points during the closing stretch and assisted on two dunks by Williams. Moore finished with 13 points.

“That was just a tremendous basketball game,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Two teams that just played their hearts out. I thought it was the most physical game we’ve been in.”

Butler made 5 of 8 shots from the floor and 3 of 4 from 3-point range.

Evans and Anthony Polite were quiet early, scoring two combined points in the first half for Florida State. Polite finished with nine points and five assists, while Evans had six crucial points and five assists.

A week ago, it was Evans who also drove the lane in the final seconds of regulation, drawing a foul and sinking two free-throw attempts as Florida State knocked off Miami. This time he drove again, and his shot helped secure a signature win.

“I just think in the moment I did what the team needed me to do,” Evans said.

INJURY REPORT

Duke starting guard Trevor Keels went down with what Krzyzewski said was a calf injury with 10:11 left in regulation. Keels had nine points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Florida State’s Tanor Ngom played for the first time since Nov. 24 against Boston University. Ngom took part in warmups and played the final 1:27 of the first half, pulling down a rebound. He had missed nine straight games.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Duke lost for the second time this month, both to Sunshine State teams. They were beaten at home by Miami on Jan. 8. The Blue Devils could slip a little but will likely stay in the top 10 if they beat Syracuse this weekend.

THE TAKEAWAY

Duke: The Blue Devils had 15 turnovers and were outrebounded 42-37.

Florida State: The Seminoles had nine steals, held Duke to 2 of 13 from the floor to start the second half and won their 13th straight overtime game.

UP NEXT

Duke: Hosts Syracuse on Saturday.

Florida State: Hosts North Florida on Thursday.

NO. 5 BAYLOR 77, WEST VIRGINIA 68

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — LJ Cryer scored a career-high 25 points in his second start of the season, and Baylor beat West Virginia to snap a two-game skid.

Baylor (16-2, 4-2 Big 12) bounced back after losing twice at home and relinquishing the No. 1 ranking. The defending national champion has won 13 straight away from home.

Matthew Mayer added 20 points for Baylor, Adam Flagler scored 14 and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua scored 10.

Malik Curry scored 19 points for West Virginia (13-4, 2-3), which has lost two straight and saw its streak of 10 straight wins at home to start the season snapped. Taz Sherman added 18 points and Sean McNeil scored 17.

NO. 7 KANSAS 67, OKLAHOMA 64

NORMAN, Okla. — Jalen Wilson scored 16 points, Christian Braun hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 10.9 seconds left, and Kansas beat Oklahoma.

Braun’s corner 3 gave the Jayhawks a 65-62 lead. They fouled Jordan Goldwire with 6.1 seconds remaining to prevent him from shooting a potential tying 3, and he made both free throws to make it 65-64.

Braun then drained two at the other end with four seconds to go. Oklahoma, out of timeouts, missed a desperation heave that could have forced overtime.

Ochai Agbaji, the Big 12 scoring leader, had all 10 of his points in the final six minutes. Braun finished with 15 for the Jayhawks (15-2, 4-1 Big 12), who won their third straight.

Goldwire scored 15 points for Oklahoma (12-6, 2-4), which lost its third in a row.

NO. 8 WISCONSIN 82, NORTHWESTERN 76

EVANSTON, Ill. — Johnny Davis scored 27 points and Wisconsin beat Northwestern.

Wisconsin (15-2, 6-1 Big Ten) won its seventh straight, building on its best start since it was also 15-2 during the 2014-15 season.

Chucky Hepburn banked home a 60-foot heave at the halftime buzzer for two of his 14 points, while Tyler Wahl also scored 14 and Brad Davison finished with 13 for the Badgers.

Chase Audige scored 23 points for the Wildcats (9-7, 2-5), and Boo Buie had 19.

NO. 10 HOUSTON 74, SOUTH FLORIDA 55

HOUSTON — Kyler Edwards had 23 points and seven rebounds, Fabian White Jr. added 16 points and five rebounds, and Houston beat South Florida for its eighth straight win.

Josh Carlton finished with 15 points and five rebounds, and Taze Moore scored 13 points for the Cougars (16-2, 5-0 American Athletic Conference).

Houston, which shot 45%, won its 35th straight home game.

DJ Patrick scored 19 points and Caleb Murphy added 12 points for the Bulls (6-11, 1-4).

NO. 18 TEXAS TECH 72, NO. 15 IOWA STATE 60

LUBBOCK, Texas — Kevin Obanor scored 13 of his 15 points after halftime as Texas Tech beat Iowa State for its third consecutive victory against a ranked opponent.

Since losing at Iowa State with only seven healthy players two weeks ago, the Red Raiders (14-4, 4-2 Big 12) have won four of five. That included back-to-back wins over top-10 teams Kansas and Baylor.

Bryson Williams had 16 points to lead the Red Raiders, and Davion Warren had 11. Obanor also had eight rebounds.

Caleb Grill had 17 points with four 3-pointers for Iowa State (14-4, 2-4), while Izaiah Brockington had 12 points and nine rebounds.

NO. 19 OHIO STATE 83, IUPUI 37

COLUMBUS, Ohio — E.J. Liddell had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Ohio State never trailed against IUPUI.

Liddell extended his streak of double-figure scoring to 27 games and recorded his third double-double this season.

Eugene Brown III scored a career-high 14 points for the Buckeyes (12-4). Bakari LaStrap led the Jaguars (1-15) with 12 points.

NO. 22 LOYOLA CHICAGO 77, EVANSVILLE 48

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Luke Williamson made five 3-pointers and scored 15 points, and Loyola Chicago won its 10th straight game.

Chris Knight added 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting for the Ramblers (14-2, 5-0 Missouri Valley Conference), who are off to their best start in league play since joining the MVC for the 2013-14 season.

Jawaun Newton scored 13 points for Evansville (4-12, 0-5).

KANSAS STATE 66, NO. 23 TEXAS 65

AUSTIN, Texas — Mark Smith scored 22 points, Nijel Pack made a go-ahead layup with 1:13 left, and Kansas State held Texas scoreless for the final 3 1/2 minutes.

Marcus Carr scored 19 of his season-best 25 points in the second half for Texas but missed a jumper with 2 seconds left, one of Texas’ two chances to take the lead in the final minute. Courtney Ramey also misfired on a potential go-ahead jumper as Texas missed its last four shots from the field.

Pack finished with 16 points and Mike McGuirl added 13 for Kansas State (10-7, 2-4 Big 12), which closed the game with a 6-0 run.

Timmy Allen scored 15 points for Texas (13-5, 3-3), and his layup with 3:32 left put the Longhorns ahead 65-60. He missed two free throws with 2:26 left and Texas leading 65-62.

NO. 24 TENNESSEE 68, VANDERBILT 60

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Uros Plavsic made a tiebreaking short jumper with 55 seconds left, and Tennessee scored the final eight points to beat in-state rival Vanderbilt for the ninth straight time.

Tennessee (12-5, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) has won 11 of 12 overall.

Santiago Vescovi led Tennessee with 14 points. Plavsic and Kennedy Chandler each added 13. Zakai Seigler had 11.

Scotty Pippen Jr., who came in tied as the SEC’s leading scorer, led the Commodores (10-7, 2-3) with 18 points. Jordan Wright added 15.

NO. 25 UCONN 76, BUTLER 59

HARTFORD, Conn. — Adama Sanogo had 13 points and 15 rebounds to lead UConn past Butler in the first of two games this week between the programs.

Sanogo also blocked four shots. R.J. Cole scored 17 points, and Andre Jackson had 12 points and 10 rebounds for UConn (12-4, 3-2 Big East).

Butler’s Jayden Taylor had 14 of his 19 points in the second half, and Simas Lukosius added 17 points for the Bulldogs (9-7, 2-3).