The Seminoles (11-6, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) started the second half on a 30-8 run to take a 66-36 lead en route to handing North Carolina its most lopsided conference loss since a 104-69 defeat to archrival Duke in 1963.
It was the worst loss for North Carolina under coach Roy Williams.
Pickeral: Sweet, Sweet Redemption
UNC had won five straight at FSU, the last two on game-winning shots, writes ESPN.com's Robbi Pickeral. Rapid reaction
Dulkys, whose previous career-high was 22 points, was 12 of 14 from the field and 8 of 10 from 3-point range. He added four steals and a blocked shot. His 8 treys were a Florida State record in ACC play.
Harrison Barnes scored 15 points and Tyler Zeller added 14 for North Carolina (15-3, 2-1), which finished 4 of 21 from 3-point range.
Williams took his team -- except for five walk-ons who finished the game -- from the court with 14.2 seconds left in expectation of the court-storming by the Florida State fans.
The Seminoles never trailed after Dulkys' first 3-pointer seconds after the opening tip.
It was an unexpected turnabout for a Florida State team that suffered a 79-59 defeat at Clemson just a week ago and came into Saturday's game with the poorest 3-point shooting mark in the ACC at 30.2 percent.
But behind Dulkys, the Seminoles hit 12 of 27 from long distance while the Tar Heels were simply off while playing on the road for the first time in six weeks. North Carolina made only 9 of 20 free throws and were beaten 43-35 on the boards despite Zeller's 14 rebounds. North Carolina had not been beaten on the boards in its previous seven games.
Okaro White added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Seminoles.
Florida State led by as many as 12 points in the first half, grabbing a 31-19 lead on Dulkys' fourth 3-pointer with 7:35 remaining and then again with 6:08 left on Bernard James' riveting dunk on a putback. The 6-foot-10 James, who had six rebounds in the early going, drew his second foul just 5 seconds later and sat the rest of the half.
Dulkys was 6 of 7 from the field in the first half, including 4 of 5 from 3-point distance.
North Carolina had reeled off nine straight wins during a 35-day homestand, shoring up on defense and rebounding that contributed to early season losses to UNLV and Kentucky. But those deficiencies returned to haunt Williams' club in a big way Saturday.
Florida State, which returned nine key players from last season's team that advanced to the NCAA's regional finals, notched its first win over a ranked team this season.
Coming into today, you probably didn't know the name Deividas Dulkys. Unless you went to FSU, scouted Lituhunian players, or just watched an inordinate amount of college basketball, Dulkys was just another white guy in college basketball who came in with the main objective of shooting three pointers.
Through 16 games the 6'5" senior guard - whose name is pronounced "David Us Duel Keyys" - averaged a pedestrian 6.1 points per game in 21 minutes of run for a middling ACC club.
Beginning now, and for the interim at least, this kid's life has changed. Following Florida State's "dismantling" of No 3 North Carolina, Deividas Dulkys is Tallahassee's BMOC until otherwise noted.
Dicky V even has a Twitpic to affirm that.
Today went HAM, leading the Seminoles with 32 points on 8-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Both, as you can imagine, were career highs for the senior who has cut his teeth for Leonard Hamilton the past four seasons and 112 career games.
So who is this kid?
Well for starters, perhaps stereotyping him as "just another white guy who likes to shoot" understates his abilities. His sophomore season, Dulkys was third in the ACC in 3PT shooting percentage, and he's currently in position to challenge the current FSU record for three-pointers made in a career.
After today's game, he's 75 made three-pointers away from claiming that distinction. Somewhat of a long shot as he would have to average more than four three-pointers a game for the rest of the season, but this should at least give you some perspective of Dulkys shooting acumen.
Ranked as a top 70 player in the class of 2008 by Scout.com, Dulkys left his home country of Lithuania in 2005 to assimilate himself to the United States, improve his game, and work towards receiving a Division I scholarship. Living away from his parents and with a host family was not the easiest for Dulkys, but the opportunity to play for a high level, nationally traveling prep program was exactly what he needed to get in front of college coaches.
Currently a member of the Lithuanian national second team, it appears as though Dulkys has a long European career waiting for him following college graduation. As he continues to mature, he's also likely to find a spot on his country's national team and compete in Olympics and FIBA World Championships.
First, however, he's got plenty of work left to do trying to help get his Seminoles back to the NCAA Tournament.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sViDGckXt0k[/youtube]
