For the critics who have all but handed Duke the ACC regular season championship trophy, there happens to be a second-place contender that would like to voice its' opinion.
Head men's basketball coach Herb Sendek's 21st-ranked Wolfpack (15-5, 8-2 in the ACC) is coming off a hectic 10-day schedule, which included a four-game winning streak. Heading into Sunday evening's matchup with the Blue Devils, N.C. State has the opportunity to crawl within one game of the ACC lead with a victory at the RBC Center.
"State's playing great right now," Duke guard J.J. Redick said. "I've watched them play against Carolina.... When you see 20,000 people dressed in red screaming at you, it's definitely a road game."
The Blue Devils (21-1, 10-0) have recently shown defects in their armor against ACC opponents, and Sendek will prepare to attack Duke on both ends of the floor. During Duke's 93-75 victory over Virginia Wednesday, several players went down with injury, most notably center Shelden Williams and forward Luol Deng. Although both Blue Devils returned, UVa was able to cut the lead to 57-54 before Duke made one of its patented runs to seal the game.
Duke's thin inside rotation, which was also pushed to the limit in an 83-81 win at North Carolina last week, will be the main target for the Wolfpack, a squad that boasts four interior players. Marcus Melvin, an agile forward, leads the N.C. State onslaught in the paint with 14 points and eight rebounds a game. In Duke's 76-57 throttling of Sendek's team earlier this season, Melvin was held to a measly seven points. Along with Levi Watkins and Ilian Evtimov, the Wolfpack big men will be out for redemption against Williams, Deng and Shavlik Randolph.
"Right not we feel that we have a rotation we're comfortable with," Sendek said. "On any given night guys have to be ready to step up. You never know who's night it's going to be."
In the earlier matchup this season, N.C. State guard Julius Hodge, the ACC's second-leading scorer at 18 per contest, attempted to put the team on his shoulders, but failed considerably by ending the night with as many turnovers as points--seven. Consequently, Wolfpack domination in the paint is crucial because N.C. State's guard play has come up on the short end of the stick against Duke's all-star backcourt. Since Daniel Ewing and Deng have been able to handle Hodge, there will be added pressure on Wolfpack guards Scooter Sherrill and Engin Atsur to nail open shots and penetrate the gaps to widen the lane for Melvin and Watkins.
On the other side of the ball, Redick, Duke's leading scorer at 17 points per outing, will be cloaked by a Wolfpack player all night. Krzyzewski's ACC foes have found out quickly that Ewing, a 39 percent three-point shooter, and senior captain Chris Duhon, who hit the game-winner at UNC, can both burn teams from the outside and driving to the hoop. Duke's inside-out combination will focus on Williams, who is averaging eight rebounds per contest, to handle the interior. N.C. State will have to counter with its inside depth to slow down Williams and Deng. If the Wolfpack can manage to get Hodge clicking on the perimeter, then N.C. State could find itself nip and tuck with the Blue Devils at the end of Sunday's game.
"They're a talented team," Ewing said. "We did a great defensive job, and made them throw out their offense and really bothered them [last game]. Hopefully we can have the same type of game plan, and get them to do away with their offense."
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