Herb Sendek and his North Carolina State men's basketball players know how to beat Duke; they don't have to prove that fact to anyone after their 78-74 victory over the No. 1 Blue Devils last night. But there are a lot of teams out there with something to prove: Valparaiso, the rest of the ACC, and any team who might face Duke in the NCAA Tournament. Fortunately for these teams, Sendek and the Wolfpack left a blueprint for anyone hoping to defeat Coach K's squad. The Blue Devils are not a team with a visible Achilles' heel; neither its early-season loss to Purdue nor its failure to dispatch N.C. State can be ascribed to any one factor. Rather, there are several steps to beating Duke.
* Play 40 minutes worth of basketball.
N.C. State jumped out to an early lead last night, scoring the game's first seven points. The Wolfpack stayed ahead for most of the contest. Although all season long they have been a team that is accustomed to leading early, leading late and leading often, the Blue Devils held the upper hand for only 23 seconds last night. The loss at the RBC Center indicates that holding the lead early against Mike Krzyzewski's team can help opponents hold the lead when the final buzzer sounds.
"Over a 40-minute period, they outplayed us," Krzyzewski said. "In the second half, we played like crazy; we played our hearts out, but you can't beat a really good basketball team unless you play for 40 minutes."
* Keep the ball away from Shelden Williams
While not the flashiest Blue Devil, Williams may be the most effective in terms of dependable scoring. No matter what SportsCenter tells you, every 94-foot coast-to-coast sprint followed by an up-and-under layup is worth exactly as many points as one of Williams' standard bank shots from three feet away. It's just that the latter is a whole lot easier to manufacture repeatedly.
Williams, ordinarily a viable option for the Duke attack, was effectively taken out of the game last night, accounting for only four points. None of these points came in the second half, when Shelden's four-foul status kept him from effectively laying down the law against N.C. State's post players. Williams' foul trouble in the game's latter frame and maladroit ballhandling in the first half kept him from scoring. Equally as important, it kept him from drawing defenses inward away from Duke's guards.
"The worst part of our game tonight was when we did get the ball [to the post players], what happened," Krzyzewski said.
* Make the little plays; force Duke to make the big ones
The last few points scored by each team are telltale signs of how Duke may be beaten. N.C. State's last 13 points all came from the foul line. The Wolfpack is the nation's best team from the charity stripe, and this sort of methodical consistency proved the undoing of the Blue Devils.
On the other hand, three of Duke's final points came on a deep three-pointer by guard J.J. Redick, who hurled up the shot from between two State defenders. The shot was highlight reel material, and was maybe the game's most impressive moment.
It is important to remember, however, that Redick took the shot because he had to. His team was down by five points with 22 seconds remaining in the contest. N.C. State's methodical play, especially its unfailing free throws, had forced Duke into a position where too many miracle shots were needed.
Krzyzewski will probably fix many of the errors from last night's game in practices and subsequent contests. But Sendek and Co. have shown the way, and Duke fans everywhere are hoping the Wolfpack will be the last team to exploit the Blue Devils' weaknesses.
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