State of shock

Eight days ago, Duke overcame a late 10-point deficit en route to a historic victory over rival North Carolina. Thursday night against another in-state foe, N.C. State, the Blue Devils cleared a hurdle twice as high.

Down 20 points with 11:33 to go at Cameron Indoor Stadium, No. 5 Duke (22-4, 9-2 in the ACC) orchestrated a jaw-dropping comeback to claim a 79-73 victory. After facing their largest deficit of the game, the Blue Devils scored 11 straight points to close within single digits. Just six minutes later, Austin Rivers mirrored his game-winning shot against the Tar Heels with another 3-pointer, this one over Lorenzo Brown, that gave Duke a one-point lead it would not relinquish.

“This was really one of the most amazing games I’ve been a part of,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “It’s really a special win.”

Rivers finished with 16 points despite not making a field goal in the first half. The entire Blue Devil team struggled in the opening period against a swarming Wolfpack (18-8, 7-4) defense. Duke shot just 31 percent, and reserve Josh Hairston entered the locker room as the Blue Devils’ leading scorer with six points.

It was Seth Curry, though, who brought Duke back after the break. Just two minutes into the game, Curry injured his left ankle while attempting to steal an errant pass and was forced to leave the bench for treatment. Although he returned to the floor less than five minutes later, the effect on his play was obvious—the junior shot just 2-for-7 from the field in the first half.

But while the ankle still visibly bothered Curry in the second half—even with under a minute to go, he visibly grimaced following a quick crossover—his play did not suffer. Curry scored seven of Duke’s 11 points in the run that brought Duke back into the game and finished with 21 in the period. With Duke down seven points with under six minutes to go, Curry made a turn-around hook shot while fighting off contact to get the Blue Devils within five. On the next Duke possession, it was Curry who rifled an alley-oop pass to Mason Plumlee to cut the deficit to three. Then, with the Blue Devils down five at the final media timeout, Curry sank a 3-pointer from the corner to again create a single possession game.

“It was a heroic performance by Seth,” Krzyzewski said. “Seth said, ‘I don’t know if I can go’ [following the injury].... We’ll see where he is tomorrow.”

Curry and Rivers were the only Duke players to score in double figures on a night where the Blue Devils shot just 36 percent from the floor. Despite being outplayed for 29 minutes, though, Duke once again did just enough to leave with a win.