DURHAM — Despite a slow start for Duke, the NC State men’s basketball team fell to the Blue Devils 88-69 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday night. The Wolfpack led for most of the first half but ran out of gas in the second. Here are some numbers that go beyond the normal box score.
8.3 — Duke’s shooting percentage at the start of the game. Despite the lid over the rim, NC State couldn’t grow much of a lead, winning just 7-4 at the time of Duke’s 12th shot. However, the Pack went up 11-4 before the Blue Devils made another shot, one point shy of the Wolfpack’s largest lead of the half.
16:40 — Minutes led by the Wolfpack in the first half. Despite leading Duke for almost the entire first 20 minutes, NC State couldn’t hold on, and the Blue Devils took a late lead into halftime after scoring just a few seconds before the buzzer.
17— Consecutive possessions Duke scored at least one point on during its dominant second-half run. The Blue Devils’ string of scoring possessions lasted nearly 10 minutes and helped seal the game as Duke outscored NC State 44-23 in the final 15 minutes of the game.
6— Turnovers committed by senior guard Markell Johnson. All night long Johnson danced around defenders, but all too often he tried to do a bit too much. His giveaways blunted potential momentum-shifting possessions in the second half and directly led to Duke buckets.
50— NC State’s shooting percentage in the first half, far more efficient than Duke’s 36.1%, but that wasn’t reflected in the score. Redshirt junior D.J. Funderburk was the most efficient at 3 for 4 and Johnson was right behind him at 3 for 5.
11— Minutes that redshirt freshman Manny Bates played. Bates picked up two early fouls and was sent to the bench after just five minutes. Then, only two minutes into the second half, he picked up a third and didn’t return until there were nine minutes left in the game. He finished with two points, one block, one steal and one rebound.
26— Number of minutes it took for someone other than Funderburk, Johnson, Bryce, sophomore forward Jericole Hellems and redshirt junior guard Devon Daniels to score. The five had scored all of the first 46 points and combined for 64 of its 69 points. It was junior guard Braxton Beverly who broke the streak with a 3-pointer from the corner.
12— Losses NC State now has on the season, the most regular-season losses in the Kevin Keatts era. Despite a relative down year for the ACC, the Wolfpack hasn’t been able to string together wins and has suffered too many losses to teams it sits above in the ACC standings.
