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Young, Blakes combine for nearly 40 as Duke cruises over FSU

Jordan Davis

DURHAM, NC — The No. 17 ranked Duke Blue Devils duo of Ryan Young and Jaylen Blakes both recorded season highs in scoring on Saturday afternoon, defeating Florida State 86-67.

Young scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Blakes scored 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from downtown in his first career start. The Blue Devils also received immense help from their depth as 46 points came from off the bench, nearly half of which were from Young alone.

Today marked the final game of 2022 for Duke, who last faced off against the Seminoles back in January when the ACC foe upset them in overtime.

Florida State got out on a 9-5 run to start the game led by guard Darin Green Jr., who’s coming fresh off a 30-point outing against St. Johns over a week ago. Green finished the afternoon with 16 points in 38 minutes.

Duke responded immediately with a 24-9 run led by Blakes, who scored 11 points in the first 12 minutes of action. The New Jersey native tied his career high with 17 points a week after setting it in their loss to Wake Forest. Young heated up in the final six minutes, extending the Blue Devils’ lead to 17 by halftime.

Florida State didn’t back down coming out of the halftime break as the Seminoles sparked a 12-4 run behind their backcourt duo of Caleb Mills and Matthew Cleveland. The duo gave Jeremy Roach and Blakes trouble all afternoon as they both finished with 18 points each. Cleveland is averaging 19 points and 11 rebounds over his last four games.

Freshman five-star Dariq Whitehead finished with a career-high 16 points.

Freshman five-star Dariq Whitehead halted their run with a crafty finish across the lane in transition, followed by a stepback three set up by Young hustling for an offensive rebound. Whitehead had his best game as a Blue Devil so far, finishing with a season-high 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting.

Young, Blakes and Whitehead would help spark a 19-5 run for six minutes toward the end of the second half that ultimately proved to be the dagger in this conference matchup.

Ryan Young became just the sixth Blue Devil all-time to have a 20-point game without missing a shot (FG and FT). The last Duke player to do so was Ryan Kelly back on January 22, 2011, against Wake Forest.

The Blue Devils (11-3, 2-1 ACC) return to action on Wednesday as they take on the NC State Wolfpack (11-4, 1-3 ACC) on the road in PNC Arena at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network.