Despite hot shooting and tough play, the NC State men’s basketball team fell to the No. 19 Duke Blue Devils in the second round of the ACC Tournament Wednesday afternoon 92-89.
The Wolfpack (16-17, 5-13 ACC) shot an astounding 55 percent from the field but it wasn’t enough as Duke (23-9, 11-7 ACC) buried 12 3-pointers to put away State.
The first half saw the second-highest combined score in ACC Tournament history, with a total of 103 points. State experienced much of the same back and forth action as it did in the victory against Wake Forest Tuesday. With three minutes to play in the first half, there had already been 11 ties and nine lead changes.
Sophomore Abdul-Malik Abu and junior Cat Barber combined for the first 12 points of the game and opened up a hot start for the Wolfpack in which it gained an early four-point lead.
The Blue Devils also started off hot as Freshman Brandon Ingram hit four 3-pointers and Freshman Luke Kennard continuously drove on freshman Maverick Rowan for easy layups. Rowan ended up taking a seat around the ten-minute mark in result of picking up his second foul.
Sophomore Caleb Martin hit two huge 3-pointers in the first half under the two minute mark to put the Wolfpack up three. The Wolfpack led 53-50 at the break. Both teams shot their season high in field goal percentage in the first half. The Wolfpack shot 63 percent from the field while the Blue Devils shot 61 percent.
While the Pack opened up a quick five-point lead to start the second half, Ingram and Kennard hit back to back triples to give the Blue Devils the lead back.
As Barber sustained a right arm injury in the second half, the Blue Devils began to find their range and it appeared as though they were running away with the game. As the lead began to grow, Rowan hit a double-clutch 3-pointer to bring the Wolfpack closer; but sophomore Grayson Allen responded with a three of his own.
The Blue Devils took advantage of a three minute, 30 second scoring drought by the Wolfpack in which they led by nine points, the largest lead of the game. But Martin ended that drought off a layup.
Barber converted a four-point play and later a layup to bring the Wolfpack within five with just under four minutes to play. The Blue Devils began a scoring drought of their own and on a breakaway layup off a Duke turnover, Allen was assessed a flagrant one for grabbing onto Barber’s arm and jersey.
With just more than two minutes to play, Barber brought the Wolfpack within one point. They used a 12-3 run highlighted by a Barber step-back shot over Allen.
With 1:14 left to play, Senior Marshall Plumlee converted three-point play. The Wolfpack regained the ball with just 30 seconds left down three, but they could not convert as Barber threw the ball away.
Kennard was fouled with two seconds remaining. He missed his free throw and Coach Mark Gottfried immediately called a timeout. A half-court prayer was thrown up by Barber but it could not find the bottom of the net.
The Blue Devils will take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinals.
