It’s been a while since there was a night like this in PNC Arena for an NC State men’s basketball game.
Perhaps the last time the excitement matched that of Wednesday night was in February 2020 when the crowd stormed the court as the Pack rolled then-No. 6 Duke 88-66.
Almost three years later, the Wolfpack (12-4, 2-3 ACC) proved it still owns Duke in Raleigh in its 84-60 thumping of the No. 16 Blue Devils (11-4, 2-2 ACC).
“I thought it was probably the most complete game we’ve played all year, especially on the defensive end,” said head coach Kevin Keatts. “We didn’t like how we finished the Clemson game. … We thought that we kind of got out-toughed. The last couple days we’ve been talking about toughness, playing together and playing hard, and it may be the best defensive game that I’ve coached since I’ve been here.”
Just like Markell Johnson and Devon Daniels in 2020, NC State rode the hot hands of its backcourt duo of sophomore Terquavion Smith and graduate student Jarkel Joiner.
Smith went for a game-high 24 points, Joiner put up 21, and the two looked like a reincarnation of the famed NC State backcourt duo of Rodney Monroe and Chris Corchiani, nicknamed “Fire and Ice.”
There are some things in sports you just can’t explain. Clemson’s 59-game losing streak against UNC in Chapel Hill was one of them. So are NC State’s uncanny struggles against Wake Forest in football and basketball in years past. Add to that list the fact that NC State owns Duke in PNC Arena, where the Pack has won six of its last nine games against its Triangle rival.
Unlike the previous 40 years, Duke was without Mike Krzyzewski on the bench tonight, but the Blue Devils’ struggles in Raleigh have apparently continued under first-year head coach Jon Scheyer.
“I never go into any game thinking we’re gonna get blown out like this; you feel you’re gonna win,” Scheyer said. “I was not expecting that.”
One would have never guessed that NC State would score 84 points based on how the game initially started with neither team scoring until the Pack broke the ice after over three minutes. It took the Blue Devils much longer, but by the time they finally put up their first points, the Wolfpack had already built a 15-0 lead.
NC State was locked in defensively early in the game, forcing Duke to miss its first 13 shots and commit 13 first-half turnovers. The closest Duke got after scoring its first bucket was 12, but every time, it seemed like Smith and Joiner had an answer.
The two combined to score more points than Duke in the first half with 23, and a corner 3 by Joiner at the end of the half — invoking memory of the aforementioned Johnson’s half-court heave against the Blue Devils in 2020 — gave the Pack 44 to double Duke’s 22 at the break.
After dominating the first 20 minutes, the question for NC State heading into the second half was if it could keep up the intensity. Smith answered with a resounding yes, hitting back-to-back 3s as part of a personal 8-0 run at the start of the half to push the lead to 52-26.
When it wasn’t Smith, it was Joiner, who hit a pair of triples of his own in the second as the Pack’s lead grew as large as 29.
“When we made runs, you could hear [the crowd],” Keatts said. “I thought it was electric. It was a powerful game for us and it was the first game that our guys can really feel what PNC can be like on a good night.”
Duke had no answer for Smith or Joiner, and there was certainly nobody that could guard graduate forward DJ Burns, who finished with 18 points and scored nearly every time he touched the ball.
The crowd cheered every time Burns entered the game and every time one of his teammates threw the ball inside. Fans even started chanting “DJ Burns” towards the end of the game, proving that the big man with excellent touch and skill is quickly becoming a crowd-favorite.
“I definitely thrive off the fan engagement,” Burns said. “Just being with a group of people who support you like these guys do. They had a rough year last year, so we’re just trying to give them something to cheer for.”
This marked the Pack’s biggest win of the 2022-23 season and one that is crucial in boosting the team’s NCAA Tournament resume. As Duke just learned, however, there are no nights off in the ACC, and NC State follows up this win with a trip to defending ACC Tournament champion Virginia Tech on Saturday, Jan. 7 with a 7 p.m. tip-off.
