Duke uses second half explosion to get win and revenge on NC State

Final. 69. 442. 88. 434

The losing streak is over from the Duke basketball team as the Blue Devils bounced back from a two-game losing streak with a win over the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

Durham can breathe easy for now as the Blue Devils are off the schneid with an 88-69 victory over the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Monday night.

It was another slow and sluggish start for Duke, but Mike Krzyzewski inserted Justin Robinson into the game midway through the first half and then switched to a 2-3 zone which helped turn the tide for the home team.

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Duke magically led by two at halftime, primarily thanks to the two aspects listed above, but the team had an extreme amount of intensity and focus in the second half, specifically from Cassius Stanley, who threw down some of his patented highlight-reel dunks.

Stanley ended up leading the Blue Devils with 18 points on 7-of-18 from the field after starting out just 1-of-6 within the first four minutes of the game.

The Blue Devils were much more balanced than in games past with six players in double-figures, and the bench was the biggest part of Duke’s success due to yet another change in the starting lineup with Joey Baker and Javin DeLaurier being on the floor for the start of the game.

Both players did not score while Jack White and Alex O’Connell did not register a single minute in this game.

Vernon Carey Jr. went for 17 points while Tre Jones dropped a cool 15, yet going just 4-of-14 from the floor.

Wendell Moore and Robinson both scored ten points while Jordan Goldwire scored 11 points in the victory.

Duke drilled the Wolfpack on the glass, winning the rebounding margin by 19, thanks to grabbing 16 offensive rebounds.

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The Blue Devils truly seemed to find a rhythm in the second half, but Duke cannot be too confident as its next opponent, North Carolina, scored 92 points in a road game against the Syracuse 2-3 zone on Saturday afternoon.

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Duke (24-6, 14-5 ACC) will close out the regular season against the Tar Heels in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 6:00pm EST on ESPN.

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