DURHAM, N.C. (AP) – Al Thornton scored 21 points and Florida State upset No. 8 Duke 68-67 on Sunday to snap a 15-game losing streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Toney Douglas added 15 points and Uche Echefu had 12 for the Seminoles (17-6, 5-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who overcame a 17-point deficit to claim their first victory on the Blue Devils’ fabled home floor.

Duke had two late chances after David McClure rebounded Douglas’ miss with about 30 seconds left.

The Blue Devils brought it downcourt and called timeout with 7.7 seconds left to set up their final play. DeMarcus Nelson inbounded the ball to Greg Paulus, and he missed a layup.

A jump ball was called on the rebound, and the possession arrow pointed toward Duke. Josh McRoberts took the inbounds pass in the lane with about 2 seconds left, and his floater rimmed out. Nelson’s putback attempt bounced off the rim as time expired.

Paulus finished with a career-high 23 points for Duke (18-5, 5-4), which has lost two straight in the final seconds and now must beat rival North Carolina on Wednesday to avoid their first three-game losing streak since 1999 – when the Blue Devils lost their last game of the 1998-99 season and dropped their first two in 1999-00.

Nelson scored 14 points and McRoberts added 12 for Duke, which held Florida State scoreless over the final 3:18 but couldn’t hit the big shot in the final moments.

The Seminoles opened up a six-point lead with about 3 minutes remaining when Ryan Reid’s layup made it 68-62 before Duke rallied.

Nelson hit a jumper, and Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton was whistled for a technical foul. Jon Scheyer made both free throws to pull Duke within one point with 2:31 left but the Blue Devils got no closer.

It was delicious revenge for a Seminoles team that lost by one point in overtime here last year on a running 3-pointer by Todd Galloway just before the final buzzer. In that game the Seminoles led by two in overtime before fading under the sharp shooting of J.J. Redick and physical presence of Shelden Williams.

The way the Blue Devils shot early, it appeared the Seminoles were headed for their 16th consecutive loss here. Duke burst out to a 27-10 lead midway through the first half behind 12 points from Paulus.

But the Seminoles countered with a 23-8 run and held the Blue Devils to one field goal in 71/2 minutes and closed to 35-33 on Echefu’s 3-pointer from the key with 1:23 before halftime. They took their first lead on Thornton’s layup 65 seconds into the second half.

At halftime Duke retired the No. 4 jersey worn by Redick, the leading scorer in school and ACC history.

AP-ES-02-04-07 1719EST