TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Minutes after Florida State's fans stormed the court in a frenzy Wednesday night, Duke forward Kyle Singler's blank expression in the locker room said it all.

Singler looked down at the floor, then raised his head to speak after No. 1-ranked Duke failed to survive its first ACC road trip Wednesday night and fell 66-61 to defensive-minded Florida State at the sold-out Donald L. Tucker Center.

"It definitely hurts," Singler said after Duke's 25-game winning streak dating back to last season ended. "We didn't really play that well, especially in the first half. We weren't ready for how physical the game was."

Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Duke (15-1, 2-1 ACC) hasn't seen anything like Florida State's defense all season. Entering the game, the Seminoles (12-5, 2-1) led the ACC with a defensive field-goal percentage of .350.

Duke shot even worse than that, making 19 of 61 field-goal attempts for 31.1 percent. The Blue Devils' point total and field-goal percentage were season lows; they hadn't been held below 40 percent from the field all season.

"We haven't been in a game like that all year," Krzyzewski said, "and they knocked us back."

Guard Derwin Kitchen scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half, and Chris Singleton added 18 points for the Seminoles. After a difficult first half, Duke senior Singler bounced back to score 18 of his 20 points after halftime. Nolan Smith added 19 points for Duke.

After trailing by 11 with 14 minutes, 45 seconds remaining, Duke used a three-quarters court trap and hot shooting by Singler, who made five second-half 3-pointers, to get back in the game.

Three free throws by Andre Dawkins tied the score for Duke at 42-42 with 11:46 remaining, and Singler tied it again with a 3-pointer at 45-45. But Kitchen made an eight-foot baseline jumper and a 3-point play as Florida State scored seven in a row.

A Smith 3-pointer with 2:26 remaining cut the deficit to 59-58, but the Blue Devils couldn't tie it. Singler missed short on a deep 3-point attempt with 1:01 remaining and Duke trailing 61-58.

"They did a good job taking away pretty much everything," Smith said. "Getting looks was difficult."

Junior forward Singleton, the ACC defensive player of the year, held Singler to two points and 0-for-5 from the field in the first half. Singleton said the plan against Duke was simple.

Coach Leonard Hamilton's staff told the Florida State players that Singler, Smith, Dawkins and Seth Curry all were capable of hurting the Seminoles from 3-point range. So Florida State's defenders were instructed to stay out on the 3-point shooters and force Duke's players to finish shots in the lane.

The Blue Devils made just eight two-point shots and 11 3-pointers.

"We're not the tallest team this year, but we have good shot blockers, and we made it challenging for them, the best that we could," Singleton said.

Despite their struggles to score, the Blue Devils led late in the first half. Singler went to the floor to outwrestle Singleton for an offensive rebound and made an amazing pass from the hardwood to Smith for a 3-point shot, and the Blue Devils led 24-21 with 2:11 remaining in the half.

Duke didn't score again for the rest of the half. Florida State got two follow shots for scores from Bernard James in the final 76 seconds for a 28-24 halftime lead.

Kitchen and Singleton both hit 3-pointers for Florida State in the opening 2:10 of the second half, and the Seminoles extended their lead to 40-29 when forward Terrance Shannon scored over Mason Plumlee in the lane with 14:45 remaining.

"Tonight wasn't about us being bad," Krzyzewski said. "Because we were good enough to almost win the game. They [the Seminoles] were really good."

Florida St. 66, No. 1 Duke 61

Percentages: FG .311, FT .750. Three-point goals: 11-35, .314 (Singler 5-11, Smith 3-7, Kelly 1-3, Curry 1-6, Dawkins 1-8). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 3 (Ma. Plumlee 2, Curry). Turnovers: 15 (Singler 5, Smith 3, Dawkins 2, Curry 2, Ma. Plumlee 2, Mi. Plumlee). Steals: 9 (Smith 6, Curry 2, Singler). Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .444, FT .667. Three-point goals: 6-13, .462 (Kitchen 3-4, Singleton 2-3, Loucks 1-3, Dulkys 0-1, Snaer 0-1, White 0-1). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 2 (James, Shannon). Turnovers: 15 (Singleton 3, Loucks 3, White 2, James 2, Shannon, Kreft, Dulkys, Kitchen, Snaer). Steals: 9 (Kitchen 3, Snaer 2, James, Kreft, Dulkys, Loucks). Technical Fouls: None.

Att.-12,100.

ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com or 919-829-8942