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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Although No. 7 Duke might lack the star power of recent years, there is no doubt the Blue Devils make up for it in depth.

Jon Scheyer put the Seminoles on the ropes with 16 first-half points, and Greg Paulus and Kyle Singler provided the knockout punch as Duke blew a 17-point lead but found a way to escape Wednesday night with a 70-57 victory over Florida State.

Duke (14-1, 2-0 ACC) was down one point with a little more than three minutes to play, but Singler knocked down a 3-pointer that gave the Blue Devils a 57-55 lead. Florida State didn't threaten again.

"Kyle got an open 3, and that was the biggest shot of the ballgame," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

The Blue Devils outscored the Seminoles 16-2 down the stretch and made all eight of their free throws in the final two minutes. Paulus and Demarcus Nelson were held in check for most of the night, but after watching Scheyer and Singler hit big shots at key points, the two upperclassmen made big plays to seal the victory. A Paulus steal and fast-break layup put Duke up by five, and Nelson's two free throws pushed the lead to seven.

"Different players stepped up in different stretches," said Paulus, who scored nine second-half points after being shut out in the first half.

For a while, it didn't look like it would be that close. Florida State cut the Blue Devils' lead to one at the 11:04 mark in the first half, but Duke took control of the game in a hurry.

Led by Scheyer, the Blue Devils rattled off 16 straight points and took a 30-13 lead. Scheyer scored eight of the points, including two 3-pointers.

"He had been slumping, but he picked a hell of a a time to step up," Krzyzewski said.

Duke held the Seminoles without a field goal for seven minutes in the first half.

Florida State took its only lead of the second half at 55-54 on Jason Rich's layup with 3:45 left before Duke put the game away with its closing run.

"For a while there it looked like there's no way we're going to win it, and our kids got tough," Krzyzewski said. "After they had been the weakest, they got to be the toughest. I don't know how that works, but it worked tonight."

Singler's 3-pointer put the Blue Devils ahead for good with 3:30 to play.

"There are shots and then there are huge shots, and that was a huge shot," Krzyzewski said.

"That slowed our momentum," Rich said. "Actually stopped the momentum."

Scheyer finished with 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting.

"We've struggled here in the past, but this is a new team," Scheyer said. "Last year they beat us at home, so we had something to prove."

The Blue Devils led 34-22 at halftime before Rich, who scored all 18 of his points in the second half, keyed the comeback by Florida State (12-6, 1-2).

"He imposed his will on us, which he can do," Krzyzewski said. "We just played harder."

Toney Douglas contributed 13 points for Florida State but Uche Echefu, who had 24 points and 12 rebounds Saturday in a double-overtime loss at Clemson, was held to six points and seven rebounds.

"We got beat by a team that executed and maintained their poise for longer periods than we did," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "They have so many weapons."

Gerald Henderson scored 11 points for Duke. Henderson's eight rebounds helped the Blue Devils to a 44-32 advantage on the boards.

"Different guys stepped up in different stretches," said Paulus, who made two steals, a layup and two free throws during Duke's decisive finish.

"They made a good run but were able to fend them off."

Duke got the road victory despite shooting 43.9 percent.

"I thought we lost our poise," Hamilton said. "You can't afford to waste possessions against a team of Duke's caliber."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

DUKE (14-1, 2-0)

Fg Ft Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Singler 26 3-8 2-2 2-6 1 3 10

McClure 12 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Paulus 20 3-8 2-2 0-2 1 4 9

Henderson 31 4-9 3-4 1-8 0 2 11

Nelson 36 2-6 3-5 1-6 1 2 7

Smith 20 1-6 2-2 1-7 4 2 4

King 15 3-6 0-0 1-4 1 2 8

Scheyer 32 9-13 1-3 2-3 2 1 21

Thomas 8 0-1 0-0 2-3 0 3 0

Totals 200 25-57 13-18 13-44 10 19 70

Percentages: FG .439, FT .722.

3-point poals: 7-27, .259 (King 2-4, Scheyer 2-5, Singler 2-6, Paulus 1-6, Henderson 0-1, Nelson 0-2, Smith 0-3).

Team rebounds: 4.

Blocked shots: 5 (King 2, Henderson, McClure, Paulus).

Turnovers: 20 (Nelson 4, Thomas 3, Henderson 2, Smith 2, Paulus 2, McClure 2, Scheyer 2, Singler 2, King).

Steals: 8 (Scheyer 2, Paulus 2, Singler, Thomas, King, McClure).

Technical fouls: Paulus.

FLORIDA STATE (12-6, 1-2)

Fg Ft Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Zitani 4 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 0 0

Echefu 26 3-8 0-1 2-7 2 5 6

Swann 38 4-11 0-1 0-3 0 4 9

Douglas 39 5-17 2-2 1-1 3 3 14

Rich 30 6-13 6-7 2-6 1 3 18

Demercy 7 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 0

Mims 38 1-9 2-2 0-4 1 2 4

Reid 18 3-3 0-0 3-4 0 4 6

Totals 200 22-62 10-13 11-32 7 22 57

Percentages: FG .355, FT .769.

3-point goals: 3-13, .231 (Douglas 2-5, Swann 1-5, Mims 0-3).

Team rebounds: 5.

Blocked Shots: 5 (Echefu 3, Reid, Douglas).

Turnovers: 14 (Reid 5, Rich 4, Douglas 2, Mims, Demercy, Swann).

Steals: 12 (Mims 6, Rich 2, Echefu 2, Reid, Douglas).

Technical fouls: Reid.

Duke 34 36 -- 70

Florida State 22 35 -- 57

A--11,548. Officials--Ted Valentine, Bernard Clinton, Tony Greene.