DATE: Saturday, March 8, 1997               TAG: 9703080598

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: GREENSBORO                        LENGTH:   67 lines

DUNCAN POWERS WAKE PAST FSU INTO SEMIFINAL

Florida State's Seminoles tried to bump, bully and bedraggle Wake Forest's Tim Duncan on Friday night. They hit him. They hacked him. They sent him to the foul line for 23 free throws, more than Duncan's taken in one game all season.

It almost worked.

Despite a season-high 31 points from the Demon Deacons' All-American center, seventh-seeded Florida State pushed second-seeded Wake Forest for the full 40 minutes before falling 66-65 in an ACC tournament quarterfinal game.

Though Wake Forest, eighth-ranked in the country, led by 12 with less than five minutes to play, Florida State, as it did the entire game, refused to fade. But there's little reason why the Seminoles (16-11) should have.

They lost by only 61-58 to Wake Forest in January, and last Saturday they knocked off the Demon Deacons in Tallahassee 59-55. In those two games, Duncan scored 22 and 20 points, respectively. Friday, he scored 20 in the second half alone, making 6 of 7 shots from the floor and 8 of 13 free throws.

Still, Florida State rallied from its 60-48 deficit at the 4:49 mark with the help of three 3-pointers in the next three minutes. Trailing 63-59 inside the two-minute mark, Florida State missed three 3-pointers on two possessions that would have cut Wake Forest's lead to one.

After guard Joseph Amonett made two foul shots to put Wake up 65-59 with 15 seconds left, Randell Jackson sank a 3-pointer to draw Florida State within three with 7.7 seconds left.

Duncan was immediately fouled and made one of two free throws, which rendered James Collins' 3-pointer, his fifth of the game, with less than one second left harmless. Barely.

``Obviously, we were one point better and about five-tenths of a second better, and that's about it,'' said Wake Forest coach Dave Odom, whose team will take a 23-5 record into today's semifinal. ``That's all it takes to advance and we're pleased about that.''

Had Florida State cracked 40 percent shooting for the game, the tournament probably would be without its top two seeds today, top-seeded Duke having lost to eight-seeded North Carolina State earlier Friday.

The Seminoles, who got 22 points from Collins, shot particularly poorly in the first half, 34.6 percent, yet trailed by only 33-28 at intermission. They finished at 39 percent for the night, but hit 11 of 25 3-pointers.

A miserable 3-point touch nearly doomed Wake, however. The Demon Deacons, who average 37 percent on 3-pointers, made just 1 of 10 3-point attempts in the second half, and 4 of 21 (19 percent) overall.

Their 22-for-35 effort from the foul line, while hardly excellent, was the difference. Duncan made 13 of those, in 23 attempts.

``One of our fears heading into this game was Timmy Duncan having a great game,'' Florida State coach Pat Kennedy said. ``Our guys have worked so hard on him all year. We tried to be physical with him, but tonight he would not be denied.

``If you're not physical with him, you won't wear him down. He was strong from tap to finish tonight. We did a nice job on their perimeter and didn't get double figures from their other post position, so it was just Timmy.''

Duncan, who also had 13 rebounds, three blocked shots and never left the floor, called the victory ``a great stepping stone for us. We came out very intense and focused. If we go into every game like that, we'll do a great job throughout.

``At times tonight, I think the score was a little closer than it should've been, but they just hit great shots. I'm just glad the time ran out.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Photo]

HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot

Kerry Thompson of Florida State, center, reaches in to foul Joseph

Amonett late in Friday's ACC quarterfinal game.

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