Like it has all season, NC State men’s basketball once again came up short in its quest for a ranked victory, falling 79-64 to No. 9 Duke at PNC Arena.

Despite a season-high 27 points from graduate forward DJ Burns, the Pack (17-13, 9-10 ACC) couldn’t overcome another second-half defensive breakdown. After scoring just 33 in the first half, the Blue Devils (24-6, 15-4 ACC) poured in 46 in the final 20 minutes.

The Wolfpack took a 46-45 lead with just over 12 minutes to go in the second half, but Duke immediately responded and ran away with the game, torching the NC State defense in the paint and from beyond the arc.

“In the second half we didn’t do a good job of following our scouting reports,” said head coach Kevin Keatts. ”We had some defensive breakdowns that we had not allowed the entire game.”

In his final game in PNC Arena, Burns put on a vintage performance, giving Wolfpack Nation one final show. The unofficial mayor of Raleigh started the game by posting up star Duke center Kyle Filipowski. He backed Filipowski down and drained a post hook, which was a sign of things to come the rest of the game.

It didn’t matter who was guarding Burns — he made shot after shot in the first half on the way to 15 points in the first half. Duke had no one that could match up with Burns, but it still opted to guard the big man one-on-one for most of the game.

“They go with the skinny guys that don’t like to get physical as much; that’s kind of where I come in as a strength,” Burns said. 

While Burns kept his team in it, no one else on NC State contributed offensively to take the pressure off him. Junior forward Mohamed Diarra was the only other player to score in double figures for the Pack. While Burns torched the Blue Devils, Duke’s strategy paid off as they shut down the rest of the Pack’s offense.

Coming in, the number one player on NC State’s scouting report to stop was Filipowski and the number one threat on Duke’s report was graduate guard DJ Horne. Both teams shut down the opposing stars — Horne was held to just eight points while Filipowski only managed nine.

With both stars neutralized, the game came down to which team could get more from its role players. Burns was the only one that came through for the Pack while the Blue Devils had four players that scored in double figures, including 21 points from guard Jeremy Roach and 16 from guard Jared McCain.

Duke also beat NC State at its own game, scoring 21 points off three of the Pack’s turnovers. The Pack entered the game third in the ACC in turnovers per game but turned it over 10 times, leading to easy buckets for the Blue Devils.

“It’s weird when I look at the stat sheet because they got 12 more shots than us, and typically that’s who we are, we turn people over so we get more possessions,” Keatts said. “The really good ones make you pay, and I thought they made us pay for the mistakes that we made down the stretch.”

Despite the Blue Devils putting up nine more shots than the Wolfpack in the first half, they only led by three entering halftime. Duke punished NC State on the glass in the first half, grabbing 12 offensive rebounds that produced 13 second-chance points. 

If the Pack did a better job of cleaning the glass in the first frame, there’s a good chance it would have headed into the locker room with a lead. The red-and-white did a better job of limiting second-chance opportunities in the second half, but Duke still finished with 19 offensive rebounds for 23 points.

“They beat us to every loose ball in the first half,” Keatts said. “You’re not going to be able to win when you have that situation.”

It’s another missed opportunity for the Wolfpack, but it must move forward to its next game at Pittsburgh and the ACC Tournament. There is no hope for NC State to make the tournament with an at-large bid, so it will have to dig deep over the next few weeks and do the unthinkable — win the ACC championship.

“It’s just part of our story,” said graduate guard Casey Morsell. “I think this team has a lot of potential to get momentum. … These low times are all going to be a part of our story.”

In its final game of the regular season, the Wolfpack will travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers on Saturday, March 9. Tip-off is set for 7:45 p.m., and the game will be televised on the CW.