Florida State continues to be clutch in the tensest moments and it continues to result in significant Atlantic Coast Conference victories.
Two RayQuan Evans free throws with 12 seconds left in overtime lifted the Seminoles (11-5) to a 79-78 victory over No. 6 Duke on Tuesday night.
FSU will take a brief break from its ACC schedule to host North Florida on Thursday afternoon in Tallahassee, Fla., in a game that was postponed on Dec. 21.
The Seminoles are looking for their fifth win in a row while the visiting Ospreys (4-14) of the Atlantic Sun have lost five in a row.
Florida State has won 13 consecutive overtime games, a record in NCAA Division I.
Evans, who last week also made two free throws with under a second remaining in regulation to lift FSU to a one-point win over Miami, finished with six points, five assists and three steals. Caleb Mills led the Seminoles on the offensive end with 18 points and John Butler had 14.
“I think that moment was a greater moment than the Miami one just because it was a blue blood vs. a new blood thing, a very good competition to the wire,” Evans said.
The Ospreys appeared to be in position to halt their skid on Monday. But Jarius Hicklen’s potential game-winning 3-pointer rimmed out, sending UNF to a 62-60 loss to visiting Kennesaw State.
“That’s something we’re working on every single day,” Hicklen said after the game. “We’re consistently putting up shots, so eventually they’ll fall.”
Hicklen led the Ospreys with 17 points while Jonathan Aybar totaled 11 rebounds.
Jose Placer leads UNF with 12.9 points per game while Carter Hendricksen averages 11.0 points and 4.5 rebounds.
North Florida has battled in each of its conference games so far after a tough non-conference slate that included losses against UCLA, Kentucky and Florida.
The Ospreys have lost three of their past four games by three points or fewer.
–Field Level Media