Duke vs. FSU: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones, your table is ready.

The Duke backcourt was excellent Monday and led the Blue Devils to a difficult 73-70 victory at Florida State. Cook ended up with 26 points, including some critical free throws at the end, and Jones added a double-double with 16 points, 12 assists and six rebounds. 

Both guards were in complete control of the flow of the game and helped Duke weather early foul trouble from its superstar big man, Jahlil Okafor. 

Devon Bookert led the Florida State attack with 23 points, six assists and two rebounds and tried in vain to spark a late comeback along with Montay Brandon.

It didn't take long for Florida State to get the crowd fired up when Phil Cofer decided to put Mr. All-American Okafor on notice, via ESPN College Basketball:

"

Whoa! Florida State's Phil Cofer puts Jahlil Okafor on a poster! #SCtop10 http://t.co/xraAM78dIf #DUKEvsFSU

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) February 10, 2015"

The opening minutes were incredibly physical, as the hometown Seminoles did not look like they were going to back down from mighty Duke. However, it made for a disjointed style of play, as Laura Keeley of The Raleigh News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer noted:

That aggressive play led to two early fouls from Okafor when Duke was trailing, 11-8, but the Blue Devils responded admirably, as Keeley pointed out:

Duke continued to stretch the lead behind Cook's sharpshooting and quickly found itself up, 20-11. Dustin Tackett of Tomahawk Nation and the Orlando Sentinel commented on the lack of energy in the crowd:

That Cook stepped up with the big man on the bench should not come as a surprise given Okafor's recent comments about the senior, via Stephen Schramm of The Fayetteville Observer: “He’s a leader. He’s been through more games than anybody on the team. When he’s leading us, telling us what he sees, talking to us, that’s the biggest thing.”

The Seminoles actually battled back to cut the lead to two points late in the first half, but Duke finished strong heading into intermission. Jones drilled a three, and Cook broke out in transition and converted on an and-1 opportunity to push the halftime lead to 32-24 in favor of the Blue Devils.

Ira Schoffel of Warchant.com and Fox Sports 1 wasn't impressed with Florida State's efforts:

It was fairly clear out of the locker room what the Blue Devils wanted to do early in the second half, as Duke Basketball (from The Chronicle) and Duke M. Basketball noted:

"

Second half well underway. After just two points in the first half, Okafor now has eight with six quick points at the start of the half.

— Duke M. Basketball (@Duke_MBB) February 10, 2015"

As Okafor helped Duke stretch the lead to 42-29, Corey Clark of the Tallahassee Democrat had a rather humorous take on things:

Okafor actually set the Duke freshman record for consecutive games with double-digit points (24), passing Johnny Dawkins in the process.

The Blue Devils extended the lead to 48-37 with just over 12 minutes remaining on the strength of Okafor and impressive passing from Jones, which elicited some ill-timed chanting from the Florida State student section. ESPN's Myron Medcalf and Michael Rogner of Tomahawk Nation both took the opportunity to comment on the "overrated" cheers:

"

First game students have shown up to. Not sure they have the timing of cheers down yet

— Michael Rogner (@TN_Hoops) February 10, 2015"

While it felt like Duke was well in control, especially with Jones only four rebounds away from a double-double and Cook and Okafor scoring, the Seminoles cut the lead to 51-48 with under 10 minutes remaining via some hot three-point shooting. Blue Devil Nation set the stage for a thrilling finish by commenting on the deep shots:

Duke responded the way good teams do on the road, though. Jones drilled a three-pointer and then picked up another assist by whipping the ball across the court for a Justise Winslow triple. All of a sudden, the lead was back up to 61-52.

Rogner said it rather succinctly:

"

Tyus Jones is ridiculous

— Michael Rogner (@TN_Hoops) February 10, 2015"

Cook added to the lead with a three of his own, which prompted this advice from Keeley:

Florida State wouldn't go away, though, and an and-1 from Brandon cut the lead to 68-62. The Seminoles sliced the lead to four points but caught a bad break on one of the most important plays of the game with less than two minutes remaining. Clark described the action:

To Florida State's credit, it trimmed the lead to 70-67 with less than 25 seconds remaining with impressive defense and another and-1 from Brandon on the offensive end. Keeley did her best to channel the drama unfolding inside the Donald L. Tucker Center:

Florida State scored with 12 seconds left to increase the tension. Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated painted the picture:

Cook converted on two free throws to push the lead to 72-69, and that set off a series of events where Duke fouled Florida State with a three-point lead on multiple occasions. The Seminoles actually missed both free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining while still facing a three-point deficit, which put the game on ice.

That three-point advantage provided just enough cushion for Duke to survive the hard-fought road trip.

Jordan Brenner of ESPN pointed out that a game like this could pay off in the long run for the Blue Devils:

What's Next?

Mark Wallheiser/Associated Press

Duke will face another raucous crowd in its next game Saturday when it travels to Syracuse. Considering the Orange self-imposed a postseason ban, having Mike Krzyzewski, Okafor and the Blue Devils in their place will be their version of the Super Bowl. Duke will naturally get the Orange's best shot.

As for Florida State, the Seminoles travel to Georgia Tech on Saturday to face a struggling Yellow Jackets team. That is one of the games the Seminoles absolutely have to win if they hope to keep their fledgling NCAA tournament hopes alive in February. 

Opportunities against weak teams don't come around very often in the ACC, so Florida State must take advantage.