The Duke basketball program squeaked out a tight victory over an inferior opponent for the second game in a row, as it downed Florida State (7-8, 0-2 ACC) 91-87 on the road on Saturday. It was another matchup where the Blue Devils just didn’t look as sharp defensively as they had through their first 11 games of the season, but second-half adjustments and key performances from guys such as Isaiah Evans and Cameron Boozer propelled Jon Scheyer’s club to victory.
Evans went for a career-high 28 points on 8-of-17 (47.1%) shooting from the field and 6-of-14 (42.9%) shooting from three-point range. The Blue Devils are now 20-0 over the past two seasons when the sharpshooting sophomore tallies a double-figure scoring effort. Boozer contributed 17 points and nine assists of his own.
Isaiah Evans went nuclear today for Duke in a tough league win Still think he is one of the least respected star offensive players in the nation Can score from anywhere on the floor pic.twitter.com/RNBlf3cadV
— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) January 4, 2026
However, what is the most promising sign for Duke fans for the future is the major improvement from the Blue Devils in the free throw department, a part of the game that has become a major disadvantage for the team throughout the early part of the campaign.
Duke basketball shows promising signs from the free throw line in road win over Florida State
Duke’s biggest lead throughout the entirety of the game was nine, and clutch shot-making down the stretch from the Seminoles gave the Blue Devil faithful an eerie feeling that missed free throws could be the catalyst in yet another tough loss for Scheyer’s group. But, that wasn’t the case…