Duke Basketball Loses to Florida State: What We Learned About the Blue Devils

The Florida State men's basketball team upset No. 1 Duke, 66-61 on Wednesday night in Tallahassee. It was the third time in the Seminoles' history that they upset Duke when they were the top-ranked team in the country.

The other two times were Jan. 6, 2002 – 77-76 and March 1, 2006 – 79-74

Does this ruin their chance of winning the national championship? No.

Does this prevent them from winning the ACC tournament? No.

Does this stop them from winning the ACC regular season title? Still, no.

Two things remain to be seen:

How does the Duke team respond and how do their opponents respond?

Here are a few things that we learned about the 2010-11 Duke Blue Devils:

A Good Team Can Have a Bad Shooting Night

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CHICAGO - JANUARY 06: Andre Dawkins #20 of the Duke Blue Devils puts up a shot against Marquis Gilstrap #3 of the Iowa State Cyclones at the United Center on January 6, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. Duke defeated Iowa State 86-65. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/G

Going into last night's game, Duke was shooting 48.3 percent from the field

Against FSU, Duke shot 31.1 percent for the game.

Even a team as good as the Blue Devils has a hard time winning when you miss seven out of ten times from the field.

No Duke player shot 50 percent from the floor.

The Blue Devils have to do what any team has to do when they are having an off night shooting: get the ball into the lane and go back to taking high-percentage shots.

Don't Over-Use The Three-Point Shot

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KANSAS CITY, MO - NOVEMBER 23: Nolan Smith #2 of the Duke Blue Devils shoots over Will Spradling #55 of the Kansas State Wildcats during the CBE Classic championship game on November 23, 2010 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jami

Duke is a great three-point shooting team, one of the best in the country.

On the season, the Blue Devils are shooting 42 percent from beyond the arc.

Last night, Duke missed their first 10 3-point attempts.

One school of thought says: "Stick with your guns. Keep shooting."

Another school of thought says: "Live by the three, die by the three."

Nolan Smith and Andre Dawkins were a combined four for fifteen from downtown.

Turnovers Kill

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PORTLAND, OR - NOVEMBER 27: Johnathan Loyd #10 of the Oregon Ducks is passes the ball form the ground against Andre Dawkins #20 and Nolan Smith #2 of the Duke Blue Devils on November 27, 2010 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan F

Normally, Duke takes good care of the ball.

Last night, they had 15 turnovers.

While they didn't play out-of-control overall, there were times when they got careless with the ball.

Florida State played good defense. Take nothing away from them.

But Duke can't afford that many turnovers, especially on a cold-shooting night.

Have to Share The Ball

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DURHAM, NC - DECEMBER 01: Garrick Sherman #41 of the Michigan State Spartans battles for a loose ball with Mason Plumlee #5 of the Duke Blue Devils during their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on December 1, 2010 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Stre

Duke plays very team-oriented basketball.

A minimum of "one-on-one, I'm gonna get mine" ball.

And yet, last night, they didn't make the extra pass and didn't seem to be looking for their teammates nearly as much.

The Blue Devils had a total of nine assists as a team, five from Nolan Smith.

Must Have Balanced Scoring

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KANSAS CITY, MO - NOVEMBER 23: Miles Plumlee #21 of the Duke Blue Devils in action during the CBE Classic game against the Kansas State Wildcats on November 23, 2010 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Kyle Singler led Duke with 20 points and Nolan Smith had 19, but they combined to shoot 12-for-33.

The rest of the team had 22 points combined.

With Kyrie Irving out for the season, Duke needs point production from Dawkins, Curry, and the Plumlees.

As good as Singler and Smith are, other teams will have an easier time if they don't have to pay as much attention to the other three players on the court.