WASHINGTON — For the first time since 2013, No. 11 Duke is leaving the ACC Tournament without a victory. NC State – playing its third game in three days – stunned the Blue Devils 74-69 to make the Blue Devils’ stay in the nation’s capital a short one.
No. 10 seed NC State will face the winner of Boston College vs. Virginia in the semifinals Friday. No. 2 seed Duke will head home with a uncharacteristic long wait until Selection Sunday.
The Wolfpack led by as much as 11 and by 10 late, but a long list of errors — three consecutive missed free throws and a blown dunk that resulted in a technical among them — helped Duke claw back to within two. That’s when DJ Horne stepped to the free-throw line, and after his makes, Duke had finally run out of rallies.
NC State made seven of 16 3-pointers (compared to five of 20 for Duke), but the biggest difference came via NC State’s 18-8 edge in second-chance points. Thirteen of those 18 came in the second half, as the Wolfpack answered every Duke surge. Kyle Filipowski had 28 points and 14 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who went one-and-done in the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2013.
The Blue Devils missed its first nine field goal attempts and never got on track offensively thereafter, especially from the perimeter. NC State led by as much as 11 early, but Filipowski kept Duke close with 12 first-half points. Horne’s tough runner at the first-half buzzer gave him 12 points to match Filipowski – and the Wolfpack a 37-34 lead.
Any hope that the break would get the Blue Devils’ offense going quickly fizzled, as NC State’s 6-0 run out of the break pushed the lead to nine.
Filipowski kept going, though, and Tyrese Proctor‘s layup cut the lead to two. NC State was undeterred. Casey Morsell immediately responded with an and-one to push the lead to five, and the Wolfpack answered seemingly every Duke surge with a bucket, a key rebound or a defensive stand. After Morsell’s basket and free throw, NC State scored 11 of its next 13 points via second-chance opportunities, at one point pushing the lead to 10.The teams went back and forth, with NC State holding a multi-possession lead – and seemingly home free, before things got wild late.
Filipowski brought it back to five, and NC State’s Ben Middlebrooks blew a wide-open dunk, getting assessed an administrative technical in the process. Duke got back to within two on Jared McCain‘s free throw and another Filipowski bucket down low as NC State missed three straight free throws. But a miracle comeback wasn’t in the works.
Horne – a constant all night – hit two free throws to get the lead to four with 15 seconds left, and Duke got no closer.
Duke needs more from its backcourt, bench
Two stats stand out from Duke’s loss: The first is 23 points on 7 of 28 (25%) shooting. Those were the combined numbers from Duke’s starting backcourt of Proctor, McCain and Jeremy Roach. The second number is 0. That’s the number of points Duke’s bench scored.
The lack of backcourt production was alarming, as was the appearance of one of its members. Jared McCain played with a bandage just above his eye after banging into teammate Jaylen Blakes in warmups and receiving stitches.
“Jared wasn’t himself, no doubt,” Jon Scheyer said. “Jared will say he’s fine because he doesn’t make excuses. … He didn’t have the same pop like he normally does.”
Still, Scheyer expected his guards to pick up the slack. It never happened.
“We need them to be better,” Scheyer said. “We rely on them to do so much for us. It’s not the scoring. It’s everything else. It’s the poise. It’s the rebounding. It’s the guarding. It’s everything else that comes with it. … We need it every game.”
Meanwhile, Duke’s bench combined for just four shot attempts in 19 minutes of playing time.
Not all is lost for Blue Devils
As disappointing as the loss is, Filipowski was terrific. Mark Mitchell also added 18 points, including two 3-pointers. He had only made nine all season coming in.
Duke’s starting frontcourt — both veterans — said they’d have messages for their teammates.
“Just knowing that there’s not many opportunities left and you’ve got to make the most of them,” he said. “Just really got to embrace it, be all in with each other.”
Mitchell had a similar line of thinking.
“I would just tell the guys just to cherish the moments,” he said. “Obviously, not like in a sentimental way. But on the court, every time we get to play, just appreciate it. I think if we do that, we’ll go all out for it. At times our team this season, I think we’ve just expected things to come. I remember last year, how sudden it ended. Obviously, it was a different path with how sudden it was. I think if we just cherish what we have each and every day and win each and every day going forward, I think we’ll do something special.
NC State makes history
Tuesday of championship week can be known as a bit of a slog — an appetizer while one waits for the conference’s top teams to to take the court.
Not so this year. The Wolfpack are the first team in ACC Tournament history to make it to Friday after opening the tournament on Tuesday. NC State trailed Louisville by double digits on Tuesday before rallying for a 94-85 win. The Wolfpack showed no signs of fatigue in an 83-65 win over Syracuse on Wednesday, and despite some nervous moments late Thursday, earned their best win of the season.
“Obviously we’re prepared for this,” Kevin Keatts said. “I would say this: A lot of people, we talk about our conditioning and how it pays off for us, and when you look at those three games that we played, honestly, we’ve looked like the more fresh team than anybody.”
It’s the first time NC State has won three games in a single ACC Tournament since 2007.
Wolfpack dominate second-chance points
Just ten days ago, Duke went on the road and NC State 79-64. A big reason? The Blue Devils held a 22-14 second-chance points advantage. On Thursday, NC State flipped that battle on its head, winning 18-8.
“Back in Raleigh, they really kicked our butts on the glass, and we decided we weren’t going for that today,” DJ Burns Jr. said.
