DURHAM — Needing a win to move itself off the NCAA Tournament bubble, and with a prime opportunity in Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday night, the NC State men’s basketball team lost to No. 12 Duke 88-69.
The Wolfpack (18-12, 9-10 ACC) battled all night long and hung tough with the Blue Devils (24-6 14-5 ACC) for the first 25 minutes of game action, but Duke’s superior talent and coaching proved too much as NC State never figured out the Blue Devils’ 2-3 zone, and Duke used its defense to kickstart a sluggish offense.
“I thought the first half was really good, we did a great job establishing ourselves,” said NC State head coach Kevin Keatts. “In the second half when we stopped making shots is when we stopped doing the little things. [Duke] had all of the winning plays in the second half.”
NC State matched the intensity of Cameron Indoor right out of the gate, building a 7-4 lead to the first media timeout, but it also lost a chance to go up more. Duke started 1 of 12 from the field, allowing the Pack to go up 11-4, but the dry spell for the Blue Devils wouldn’t last long. Duke found its groove, and the lead was only two points at the under-eight media timeout.
Senior guard Markell Johnson led all players at that point with nine points while redshirt freshman center Manny Bates picked up two early fouls and had to sit for a significant portion of the first half. The other four starters played 19 or 20 first-half minutes.
The biggest point of emphasis in the first half in terms of scoring was that NC State had 10 points off turnover and six fastbreak points. When the Pack went on a run to its largest lead of the game at 20-12, it was playing fast and forcing Duke out of rhythm. The same was true on the other side; Duke started to come back by beating the Wolfpack down the court with nine of its own fastbreak points.
“Just being able to maintain the performance throughout the whole game, because we played great in the first half, we just have to stack that up,” said sophomore forward Jericole Hellems. “… It started on the defensive end for us; second half we just didn’t get it done.”
NC State only trailed for 30 seconds in the first half, but it was the last 30 seconds as Duke went on an 8-1 run. A rushed shot by Hellems with 10 seconds left led to a foul and two made free throws at the other end.
Duke was led by Justin Robinson, who had eight points, and Jordan Goldwire and Vernon Carey, who had seven each. The home team was also much more well balanced, with seven players finding the net, compared to just five for the Wolfpack. Johnson and senior guard C.J. Bryce each had nine.
Not even two minutes into the second half, Bates was called for his third foul, earning himself a one-way ticket back to the bench for a while. With that, and a series of missed shots from the NC State offense, Duke went into overdrive, converting on easy buckets on almost every possession. The game was tied at 46-46 at the 15-minute mark, but Duke had built a 10-point lead just four minutes later.
A couple of alley-oop dunks to Cassius Stanley was all the momentum Cameron Indoor needed to make sure NC State was down and out. Duke’s largest lead was the final: a 19-point deficit for the Pack.
“These guys are explosive in transition, especially in this building,” Keatts said. “I thought they were able to get out and get the crowd involved and that certainly worked against us … I think Stanley probably had two of the best dunks he’s had all year.”
NC State’s 50% shooting in the first half dropped to just 37.5% in the second half, and the team hit only 62.2% of its free throws. That on top of being outrebounded 46-27 and only getting five guys to score for most of the game, NC State couldn’t keep up with the electric Duke team at home.
It was a great game for NC State’s main players. Bryce, Daniels and Hellems had 14 points each while Johnson and Funderburk had 11 each. The biggest problem was that there were only two other players to score, with Bates at two and junior guard Braxton Beverly at three.
The men’s basketball team will be back in action for the regular season finale at PNC Arena on Friday, March 6, at 7 p.m. against Wake Forest. The ACC Tournament will start the following Tuesday in Greensboro.
