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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- 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 gets loose on a drive and puts in the winning points for Florida State with 7.4 seconds left.
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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 Division I without an unbeaten team.
"It took every bit of the 40 minutes to get the win," said
Florida State coach Steve Robinson, whose team had a 13-point lead
with 8½ minutes to play. "Once we got behind I told them we've
just got to make some shots."
Duke (12-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) missed a chance for
the victory when Mike Dunleavy's tip of a miss by Jason Williams rimmed
out at the buzzer. But the Blue Devils had hurt themselves with the
uncharacteristically 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.
Florida State, which had closed to 76-75 on Antwuan Dixon's
3-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."
The victory 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.
"You always have in the back of your mind, 'They're going to
come back, they're going to come back,"' Florida State guard
Delvon Arrington said. "We were on our heels, but we weren't
flat-footed."
Williams, who was 8-for-12 from 3-point range and led all scorers
with 26 points, missed six consecutive 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 victory in 12 games against the Blue Devils.
"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."
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 3-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. It was Dunleavy's 3-pointer with 59
seconds left that put Duke ahead 76-72.
Cummings finished with 16 points, while 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.
Four Division I teams entered the weekend without a defeat, but
No. 4 Virginia, No. 5 Oklahoma State and No. 21 Miami all lost Saturday.
Cincinnati now has the nation's longest winning streak at 13
games. | 
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