It was a much hyped game and it lived up to the hype, but in the end it proved to be a big win for the No. 20 NC State Wolf Pack and the first loss for the soon to be former No. 1 Duke Blue Devils.
Richard Howell and NC State handed Duke their first loss of the season.
Despite the loss of Ryan Kelly, which was one of the central story lines in this game, Duke was in a position to win the game but couldn’t overcome costly missed opportunities as well as some serious lapses on the defensive end to come up short 84-76.
In the first half Duke looked not to be missing a beat coming out strong and building as much as a 6-point lead. They were able to control the glass in the first half taking a slight rebounding advantage into the half-time break but couldn’t maintain that and that ended up being a major reason the Blue Devils lost.
Richard Howell dominated the glass grabbing 18 rebound to go with his 16 points. The Blue Devils also had not answer for CJ Leslie who scored 25 points and Lorenzo Brown chipped in 12 points and 13 assists.
Bottom line is that NC State is a very good team. There are no excuses for Duke though, the Wolf Pack just out played Duke down the stretch period. Much will be made about the fact that the Blue Devils played without Kelly and while his loss was felt, especially on the defensive end, it isn’t the reason Duke lost.
Neither is the fact that Seth Curry went down late with an ankle injury and did not return. Duke has to be able to win games against good teams when not all cylinders are firing and they weren’t on Saturday afternoon.
The Wolf Pack pushed the tempo and consistently beat Duke down court in transition that led to a lot of easy buckets and fouls. The Blue Devils in contrast missed a lot of easy chip shots near the basket and without Curry or Kelly that hurts.
Mason Plumlee had a solid game getting a double-double (15 points and 11 rebounds.) Quinn Cook had another solid game scoring 17 points and 7 assists and Curry put up 22 before going out so what was the problem?
It wasn’t Josh Hairston who scored 8 points and 5 rebounds which is about the most you can ask for him and it wasn’t Amile Jefferson getting some of Kelly’s minutes. He scored 10 points and 4 rebounds in only 12 minutes, though he did foul out at a crucial time. The real head scratcher for me is the fact that Duke has been getting very little from Rasheed Sulaimon lately.
Don’t get me wrong, he has been fine defensively but offensively he has fallen off the planet the last several games. He isn’t playing as confidently with the ball in his hands as he was earlier and if he can’t get some of that back Duke will miss Kelly even more. They could have beaten state if he could have come close to his season average even with the Wolf Pack out playing Duke in the second half.
It is a tough loss for Duke and a big win for NC State but it isn’t the end of the world. Duke at 15-1 (2-1 ACC) will learn and grow from this but they have to get more consistent play while Kelly is out.
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