The NC State Wolfpack shocked the college basketball nation by handing the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils their first loss of the season.
ACC games are always tough and you always have to bring your A game if you want to come away with a victory.
NC State brought their A game for sure. They handled Duke. They dominated the second half en route to an 87-75 victory. The Wolfpack outscored Duke by eight points in the second half. The Blue Devils simply had no answer for NC State.
Jan 11, 2015; Raleigh, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils center Jahlil Okafor (15) head coach Mike Krzyzewski (center) and guard Matt Jones (13) react during the second half against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at PNC Arena. North Carolina State won 87-75. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
The Wolfpack are a talented team and are extremely well coached by Mark Gottfried. They lost a tough game at No. 3 Virginia 61-51 on Wednesday so you knew Duke was going to have their hands full all game long.
It wasn’t just a simple case of Duke playing poorly. Duke didn’t play that bad, they just couldn’t make a shot. Some games you are just off. NC State played extremely well and was more than deserving of a victory, but Duke just couldn’t make a shot.
Duke was horrid from the floor and NC State was terrific. To be honest Duke was lucky to even have a chance for a comeback in the second half. For the game the Blue Devils were 24-65 from the field, 36.9 percent, and were even worse three. They shot 7-27 from three-point range which is an atrocious 25.9 percent.
In the past Duke has been a team that has used the live by the three, die by the three philosophy and NC State made them revert back to their old ways on Sunday afternoon. The Wolfpack’s interior defense did an outstanding job protecting the paint. As a team NC State blocked 10 shots. State threw a block party and Kyle Washington and BeeJay Anya attended with four blocks each.
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The defense wasn’t the only part of the game that the Wolfpack performed well in. Their offense was spectacular. NC State shot 55 percent from the field as a team and they shot a spectacular 62.5 percent from three as a team.
Duke’s defense wasn’t bad either. NC State’s offense was just even better. They made a number of tough shots. They made a number of contested three-pointers. Trevor Lacey and Ralston Turner were spectacular. Lacey was hot from the start of the game and finished with a team high 21 points on 8-13 from the field and 5-7 from three.
Lacey proved to be too big for Quinn Cook who played tough defense but Lacey just made big time shots. To pull of an upset you need to make big shots. Lacey wasn’t the only State player who came through big either. Turner scored 11 second half points and helped spark a big run for the Wolfpack to take complete control of the game.
Duke held Turner in check for the first half but he got loose in the second half. He made three second half three-pointers and Duke wasn’t able to overcome the hot shooting.
NC State went on 12-1 run in 2nd half to take a 62-49 lead with eight minutes left before Quinn Cook hit a three-pointer. Cook’s three gave the Blue Devils a little life but NC State answered right back with a 10-1 run to take their largest lead of the game with only 5:28 left.
Down by 19 points, 72-53 the game seemed like it was over, but you can never count a Coach K team out. Duke made a furious comeback attempt but they just didn’t have enough to overcome an outstanding performance by NC State. Duke went on an 11-0 run to close the gap to 72-64 with 2:26 left.
For a moment it seemed as though the Blue Devils were going to make a huge comeback and have a chance to get back in the game. NC State’s offense went cold until BeeJay Anya threw down a monster put-back dunk that erupted the Wolfpack bench and crowd.
Jan 11, 2015; Raleigh, NC, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack players celebrate a victory against the Duke Blue Devils at PNC Arena. North Carolina State won 87-75. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
From that moment on all NC State had to do was run the clock and make their free-throws. They did just that and captured a huge victory. Coach K prepared his team for what was about to happen. He took his starters out and brought his entire team to the sideline so that they could walk off quickly while the Wolfpack crowd stormed the court.
For the first time all season Duke did not take a lead into halftime. The Blue Devils trailed 37-33 at the half versus NC State in Raleigh. It’s not that Duke played poorly in the first half they were just outplayed. NC State simply outplayed Duke in the first half.
The Blue Devils had their chances and were getting open shots but they weren’t connecting. Duke was only 12-30, 40 percent, in the first half and shot even worse from three. They managed to make only 3-12 from three-point range which translates to 25 percent. On certain days shots just don’t fall.
On the other end of the floor NC State was playing lights outs. They were simply on fire. The only place they struggled from was the free-throw line. In the first half NC State was 15-29 from the field, 51.7 percent, and 5-8 from three, 62.5 percent. The Wolfpack were making the type of plays you need to pull a major upset. They were making tough jumpers and contested three-point jumpers.
Duke did a good job containing NC State’s two best players. Both Ralston Turner, five points, and Anthony Barber, zero points, were held in check but the supporting cast stepped up and played a huge role in taking a lead into the half. Trevor Lacey scored 13 first half points and was 5-7 from the field and 3-4 from three.
Lacey was not alone in helping NC State take a first half lead. Kyle Washington, seven points, and Abdul-Malik Abu, six points, also made big plays and made the shots they were supposed to.
With the loss Duke falls to 14-1 overall on the season and 2-1 in ACC play.
Jan 11, 2015; Raleigh, NC, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack forward Abu Abdul-Malik (0) pulls down a rebound in front of Duke Blue Devils forward Justise Winslow (12) during the second half at PNC Arena. North Carolina State won 87-75. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
Inside the Box Score for Duke:
Jahlil Okafor bounced back from an off game versus Wake Forest and scored 23 points on 8-11 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds. Okafor had six offensive and six defensive rebounds and also blocked three shots and had three steals.
Rasheed Sulaimon disappeared in the second half scoring only two points on 0-5 shooting from the field and 0-3 from three. He also committed two turnovers in the second half. He played extremely well in the first half but couldn’t regain the form in the second half.
Tyus Jones scored only four points on 1-6 shooting. Justise Winslow managed to score 10 points but didn’t have his best game. Winslow shot 3-13 from the field and 1-6 from three before fouling out late in the second half.
Four different Blue Devils scored in double figures with Okafor leading the way with 23 points. Cook, 18 points, Sulaimon, 11 points, and Winslow, 10 points, rounded out the scoring for the Blue Devils.
Stats of the Game:
NC State had three players who scored in double figures. Lacey scored 21 points, Turner scored 16 points and Anya scored 14 points.
The Wolfpack shot 62.5 percent from three and 55 percent from the field. They shot the ball extremely well and it proved to be the difference.
NC State had 10 blocks. Both teams only committed 10 turnovers.
NC State:
This isn’t the first time that State upset Duke in the PNC arena in Raleigh. On Jan. 12, 2013 No. 20 NC State upset No. 1 Duke 84-76.
The next time they played in the 2012-2013 season Duke won the game in Cameron Indoor Stadium 98-85. History will not have a chance to repeat itself because this was the only meeting between the two teams unless they meet in the Conference Tournament.
What’s Next For Duke:
It is just one loss. It will not end their season or ruin their ultimate goal. Duke will return to action in the friendly confides of Cameron Indoor Stadium Tuesday night versus Miami.
The countdown to 1,000 career victories will have to be put on hold for the time being. With the loss Coach K stays at 997 career victories and the game versus Louisville is no longer potential win number 1,000. If Duke wins their next two games then the showdown versus Pittsburgh could be win number 1,000. That game is being played in Cameron Indoor Stadium so it could be a special moment in Durham.