GREENSBORO - Don't give up.... Don't ever give up.
The eighth-seeded N.C. State Wolfpack took a page out of their deceased former coach Jim Valvano's playbook Friday against the men's basketball team, upsetting the top-seeded Blue Devils 66-60 in the opening round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
The Wolfpack, the Cinderella story of the tournament, finally had their glass slipper removed Sunday when they lost to North Carolina in the tournament finals, 64-54.
N.C. State (16-14) used a combination of resilience, strong defense and intensity to beat Duke and become only the second eighth-seed ever to advance beyond the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament, only hours after defeating Georgia Tech in the tournament play-in game.
"Our focus all year has been, 'Let's do our best, let's learn from every experience and get better,' " Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek said. "There were times maybe in January when people really became tired of that storyline. But this team has stayed the course. That's why I'm so pleased that it's coming together right now."
The Blue Devils (23-8) jumped out to a quick 21-5 lead over N.C. State, and early on it looked like the seeds were to hold and the Blue Devils would advance easily to Saturday's semifinals. The Blue Devils forced four Wolfpack turnovers and converted their shots to jump out to the early lead. However, N.C. State wasn't ready to give up just yet.
"Duke came out of the gate and hit us with a strong punch, and we were certainly on the ropes," Sendek said. "What we did is just kind of dig in and fight a little bit harder, if that was possible. We certainly didn't change any of our schemes or game preparation plans."
The Wolfpack clawed their way back into the game by settling down on defense. After a Roshown McLeod layup with 8:56 remaining in the first half to make the score 23-8, the Blue Devils were unable to make a shot from the field for the remainder of the half, missing 10 straight to end the period. Eight-of-10 free throw
"I think N.C. State picked up their intensity, and offensively, we weren't as precise as we needed to be," junior point guard Steve Wojciechowski said. "We got good shots and they weren't falling."
The Blue Devils were able to regain their offensive effectiveness early in the second half. Wojciechowski and sophomore Trajan Langdon both converted foul shots, and a Langdon jumper and a three-pointer by senior Jeff Capel helped extend the Duke lead to 14, 40-26. However, N.C. State once again refused to die. After a Capel jumper brought the Duke lead to 42-28, the Duke offense completely stagnated, while N.C. State's offense exploded.
Wolfpack point guard Justin Gainey hit a layup, which was followed by a Harrison jumper. Gainey hit another jumper from the side to bring the Wolfpack within eight. Duke junior Ricky Price missed a jumper, and Harrison hit a three from the corner. On Duke's next trip down the court, senior Carmen Wallace's open layup rimmed out, and State senior Danny Strong banked a shot home to bring the Wolfpack within three and force Duke to call a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, the Wolfpack quickly picked up where they left off, stealing the inbounds pass. Senior Jeremy Hyatt hit a layup to bring State within two, 42-41, and cap a 13-0 run.
The Blue Devils managed to stop the N.C. State run when Langdon hit a pair of free throws to restore the Duke lead to three. Duke continued to turn the ball over and miss shots, but went into the official timeout with seven minutes remaining up one, 46-45. Coming out of the timeout, Langdon missed a three against the Wolfpack zone. On the other end of the court, Hyatt hit a three to give N.C. State the lead, 48-46.
"We kept giving them life," Price said. "They kept taking advantage of what we gave them. Finally, they chipped away and chipped away and they caught up to us. Then they passed us. Once they passed us, they accelerated. That's what we should have done all along."
Once they got the lead, the Wolfpack refused to relinquish it. Duke continually tried to wear down N.C. State, which only had six players play more than two minutes. N.C. State continued to endure, as its lead bounced back and forth between two and four. Capel hit a free throw to bring Duke within three, 54-51, with 1:37 remaining, and the Blue Devils began to foul.
The Wolfpack were up to the task, though, nailing 10-of-12 foul shots down the stretch, keyed by 5-of-6 from Harrison, who finished the afternoon with 28 points. The Wolfpack were able to extend their lead to an insurmountable eight points, while Duke continued to struggle with its shooting, as Capel missed a pair of shots while attempting to cut the N.C. State lead. Eventually, all Duke efforts to regain the lead were in vain, as the Wolfpack held on for the upset victory.
The loss marked the third setback in four outings for the Blue Devils. Their most common problem over their past few games, rebounding, was solved statistically by the fact that N.C. State did not start a player taller than 6-foot-6. Despite their distinct size advantage, the Blue Devils only managed to outrebound the Wolfpack by two, 30-28, as the six-foot Gainey outrebounded all of the Duke players except junior Roshown McLeod. The game marked Duke's first in nine that it lost when outrebounding its opponent.
"We knew coming in that the key to the game was blocking out and rebounding," Harrison said. "We just did a good job of that. With our lack of size, the other teams just try to take advantage of us and feel that they can outrebound us. That's something that we've worked hard on in practice and guys just do a good job of blocking out and rebounding."
Duke now advances to the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday in Charlotte. The second-seeded Blue Devils take on Murray State, the champions of the Ohio Valley Conference, in their opener.
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