RALEIGH, N.C.—Heading into the locker room at a packed PNC Arena, No. 2 Duke trails N.C. State 37-33, the first time this season that the Blue Devils have been behind at halftime.
The Blue Devils maintained a slim lead for most of the first half, but the Wolfpack went on an 8-2 run to draw even at 29 heading into the under-four timeout. N.C. State used great ball movement and unselfish passing to get easy looks on the offensive end, including several open dunks.
Kyle Washington spurred the run for the Wolfpack in the closing minutes. The sophomore forward nailed a 3-pointer coming out of the timeout and hit a long jumper on the next possession to give N.C. State a 34-29 edge—its largest lead of the afternoon.
Duke received a big boost off the bench from guard Rasheed Sulaimon, who finished the half with nine points. After putting up 13 points and six assists against N.C. State a season ago, the junior came off the bench Sunday and instantly hit back-to-back buckets to quickly erase a brief 14-13 lead for the Wolfpack.
Alabama transfer Trevor Lacey hit his first four shots and led the N.C. State offense with 13 points, including a 3-of-4 clip from behind the arc. Despite being guarded tightly by Sulaimon for most of the first half, the redshirt junior was still able to hit tough shots from all over the court.
Here are some observations from the first half:
· Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski switched up the starting lineup for the first time this year, giving Matt Jones the nod instead of Amile Jefferson. Jones was held scoreless and missed all three of his shots from the field.
· Recently inserted into the starting lineup for N.C. State, forward Abduk-Malik Abu made his presence felt with three thunderous dunks in the first half.
· The Blue Devils did not make it to the free throw line until the 8:47 mark, when Justise Winslow sank a pair from the line. Winslow picked up two fouls and sat for much of the opening period.
· The Wolfpack are spreading the ball around well offensively, racking up 10 assists as a team, compared to just six for Duke.
· Jahlil Okafor and Quinn Cook combined to score the first 13 points of the game for the Blue Devils. The pair finished the half with 18 total points.
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