TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — That Florida State was the first team to beat Duke this season was a big surprise. That the top-ranked Blue Devils did themselves in with poor free-throw shooting was a shock.
Monte Cummings scored with 7.4 seconds left as the Seminoles rallied from a four-point deficit in the final minute to beat Duke, 77-76, Sunday, snapping the defending national champion's 22-game winning streak and leaving Div. I without an unbeaten team.
Florida State's Monte Cummings is hoisted above the crowd after making the game-winning shot against Duke. FSU defeated the No. 1 Blue Devils on Sunday at Tallahassee, Fla.
"It took every bit of the 40 minutes to get the win," said Florida State coach Steve Robinson, a former Kansas University assistant whose team had a 13-point lead with 8 1/2 minutes to play. "Once we got behind I told them we've just got to make some shots."
Duke (12-1, 1-1 ACC) missed a chance for the win when Mike Dunleavy's tip of a miss by Jason Williams rimmed out at the buzzer. The Blue Devils hurt themselves with poor free-throw shooting, going 2-for-8 over the final 1:30 and only 7-for-19 in the game.
Williams entered the game shooting 69.1 percent from the line and Duke was shooting 69.3 percent as a team.
Duke's loss capped a bizarre weekend among college's elite teams. Ten of the nation's top 25 teams lost on Saturday, including five of the top 10. All the losses came at the hands of unranked opponents. Duke, Oklahoma State (12-1), Virginia (9-1) and Miami (14-1) all entered the weekend unbeaten.
A shakeup is likely when the Associated Press top 25 is released today. Kansas (12-1) was No. 2 last week, while Florida (12-1) was No. 3. The USA Today/ESPN poll was released Sunday before the Duke game ended. The Blue Devils were No. 1 in those rankings with Florida second and KU third.
The win was the first in 12 games against a top-ranked team for Florida State (8-5, 1-1), which held the lead throughout most of the second half.
Florida State, which had pulled within 76-75 on Antwuan Dixon's three-pointer with 28 seconds left, went to Cummings a 25-year-old Army veteran for its final play.
"I was knocking them down in the second half, so I felt good about it," said the 6-foot-4 Cummings, who got past Williams when he tried to draw a charge, then went baseline to the basket. "Somehow Jason got tangled up and it helped me get by him."
Cummings enjoyed the ride of his life as he was hoisted by many of the hundreds of fans who stormed the floor. The announced crowd of 10,212 was easily Florida State's largest this season.
"First thing you can write about is our crowd and how huge of a factor they were," Robinson said. "It was pretty nice to see them storm the court."
Williams, who was 8-of-12 from three-point range and led all scorers with 26 points, missed six straight free throws in the final 5:40, including four over the final 1:24. The last two were with 20 seconds left and could have given the Blue Devils a three-point lead.
"I promise you the next time I'm in that situation I will make them," Williams said. "Some of those things happen."
Florida State, which lost games last month to American and Western Carolina, hadn't beaten Duke since 1995 and gave Robinson his first win in 12 games against the Blue Devils.
Those losses had raised speculation that Robinson would be fired after a five-season tenure at Florida State after the season. Now, his team has a four-game winning streak.
"I'm very happy for these guys, not for me," Robinson said of his players. "It's not about me."
The Seminoles went up 58-45 on a free throw by freshman Anthony Richardson with 8:39 left. Duke rallied quickly and caught up at 61-61 on Williams' final three-pointer with 5:40 remaining.
Duke took its first lead since 7-4 at 73-71 with 1:22 left on a basket by Carlos Boozer. Dunleavy's three-pointer with 59 seconds left that put Duke ahead 76-72.
Cummings finished with 16 points, while Delvon Arrington added 13 points and 10 assists. Michael Joiner had 12 points, while Richardson and Dixon each had 11. Arrington has 603 assists, surpassing Otto Petty as the school's career leader.
Dunleavy, who was 5-for-15 from the field, finished with 14 points, while Boozer had 12 and Daniel Ewing 10.
"They played better than we did," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We have a lot of work to do before we're some great basketball team. We're not one right now."
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