RALEIGH -- Right when the Wolfpack (12-4, 2-2 in the ACC) needed to be prepared for a week of tough ACC play, Duke (14-1, 3-1) completely stopped it in its tracks. The Blue Devils handily beat N.C. State in the Entertainment and Sports Arena Sunday night, 76-57. Mike Dunleavy and the Duke defense were no match for the outplayed Wolfpack.
The first minutes of the game were tense for both teams. Seven minutes into the game, Duke's lead was only at eight. N.C. State's defense held the Blue Devils to only 22 points for over 10 straight minutes of the half. Despite six opportunities to convert in the first half alone, Duke held the Wolfpack scoreless in the last nine minutes of the first half.
The intensity of those last minutes was broken by Wolfpack freshman forward Josh Powell, when he made a layup on the left side. Even then, the lead was only narrowed to 18. By the time 36 seconds remained, the Blue Devils had already doubled the Wolfpack, 42-21. Most of the scoring was done by Dunleavy, who finished the night with 27 points- 22 in the first half alone.
"That was a great defensive game on both sides. I thought the intensity of the first ten minutes of the game
Powell picked up in the second half for the Wolfpack; his inside presence pulled the Wolfpack out of several droughts. He finished the game with 12 points and six rebounds. Powell was helped by freshman Julius Hodge and senior Anthony Grundy, who both finished the game with a combined 36 points. But that was not enough for N.C. State.
"They missed some open shots," Krzyzewski said. "The pace of a game puts pressure on a shooter. I think it happened to both teams."
Powell's comeback in the second half, however, was not comparable to Boozer's explosion. Sprinkled with shots by Williams and of course Dunleavy, the second half was mainly dominated by Boozer. He played for 25 minutes, went 9-for-13 and finished with 22 points - only five less than Dunleavy.
"I though Duke did a great job of taking us out of our offense," N.C. State coach Herb Sendek said. "Duke is really pressuring on their defense. We allowed ourselves
The N.C. State bench received a technical foul minutes into the second half. After that, Powell and guards Archie Miller and Scooter Sherrill all hit threes on the only Wolfpack run of the second half. Duke's defense pressured N.C. State and held them to going several stretches of minutes with few shots before Duke stole the ball.
"The way we played tonight - that was fun," Dunleavy said. "We all came back here tonight and said to ourselves Ohey that was fun.' When we play like that at times with intensity and it can be fun."
Chris Duhon and Jason Williams finished the game with 11 and 10 points, respectively. The duo were both on the court for 35 minutes. Towards the end of the game, Andre Buckner and Casey Sanders and Reggie Love got in the game.
"We're lucky to be at a college where we already have everything [and] we're always ranked number one," Duhon said. "We owe it to the guys who have had they're faces rubbed in mud that want everything just to make it to the tournament - we owe it to them to represent them, that's what Duke is all about."
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