Isaiah Evans' late 3 lifts No. 4 Duke over No. 15 Florida - ESPN

DURHAM, N.C. — Isaiah Evans just couldn't hit from outside, time and time again watching 3-point shots rattle out as fourth-ranked Duke was locked in a second-half fight with reigning national champion Florida.

That is, until it was time to take the biggest shot of the night. «That's my job, I've got to stick it,» Evans said.

The slim sophomore hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 19.7 seconds left in the Blue Devils' 67-66 victory over the 15th-ranked Gators on Tuesday night. It came with Evans sitting at 0 for 7 from behind the arc, a struggle in a normally reliable element of his game with his quick release and floor-stretching range.

«I mean, it was hard,» Evans said. «I know y'all had seen I was losing my mind. I'm not going to lie. I don't think I had shot that bad in a long time. I just had to keep telling myself, 'It's bigger than me, it's not just about me, it's about the team.' So I had to focus on what can I do to help the team win.»

Evans finished with 13 points on 5-for-14 shooting, with most of his production coming in the second half when he scored off feeds as he cut hard to the basket. The 6-foot-6 wing also was active with his hands on the defensive end, posting an unlikely career high of five blocked shots.

It was a nice bump for a player in a starting role after largely working down-the-rotation minutes as a freshman reserve on last year's star-laden team that reached the Final Four.

He came into this one averaging 12.5 points, but he was coming off a shooting struggle (3 for 10) in a Thanksgiving Day win against a ranked Arkansas team in Chicago.

«It's different from a scouting-report perspective,» coach Jon Scheyer said of Evans facing increased defensive attention. «They did a good job of hanging tough