At half of Tuesday’s night, No. 4 Duke looked poised to upset No. 15 and defending state champion Florida.
Florida fought back from a half-season low score and a 36-24 halftime deficit to tie the game at 59 in the final three minutes of the game. From there, it was a thrilling back-and-forth game as Duke won 67-66, taking the lead twice in the final 35 seconds.
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With the win, Duke improves to 9-0 and notches its third win over a ranked opponent of the season, which also includes wins over No. 24 Kansas and No. 22 Arkansas. Next up is perhaps the toughest test of the road game on Saturday at No. 7 Michigan State.
But now, the Blue Devils can celebrate a victory over the defending champions in a showdown between two teams that advanced to the Final Four last season. As has been the case for much of the season, star freshman Cameron Boozer led the way.
Boozer hit a 3-pointer with 2:10 left to help Florida tie the game. In the end, he scored a game-high 29 points.
This story will be updated.