Big first half fuels Duke basketball rout of N.C. State

GREENSBORO, N.C.—There is winning and there is revenge. And then there is what Duke did to N.C. State in the ACC tournament quarterfinals.

The Blue Devils crushed the Wolfpack 77-53 at the Greensboro Coliseum to advance to the ACC tournament semifinals and avenge their first loss of the season, an 87-75 upset in Raleigh Jan. 11.

"We're just eager to be in this tournament," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We needed to get off to a good start in this tournament. This tournament means a lot to us.... I'm surprised we won the way we did because I think State can beat anybody."

In Duke's last revenge game, the Blue Devils shellacking Notre Dame 90-60 at Cameron Indoor Stadium 10 days later. Although Duke did not come as close to the century mark Thursday, the message was the same—this Blue Devil squad is not one to make the same mistakes twice.

In the first half, Duke displayed how far it has come since that Jan. 11 loss. Freshman Justise Winslow—who entered the game averaging 16.8 points in his last five games—scored all 11 of his points in the first half to lead the charge. The Blue Devils (29-3) grabbed the lead on the first possession of the game off a 3-pointer from Winslow and did not look back from there, as they held the lead for the rest of the game.

"The first half was way beyond our expectations, let's put it that way," Krzyzewski said.

Duke got a surprising boost from its bench, as Marshall Plumlee and Grayson Allen—who played just seven minutes total in the first game—combined for 15 first-half points, eight coming off Plumlee dunks. The duo would finish with 23, including a career-high 12 from the 7-footer, all on dunks.

"They were terrific. Absolutely terrific," Krzyzewski said. "Marshall was very precise in his screening and rim running. He was powerful in finishing.... Grayson has been coming on like crazy. That dunk—or not dunk, but the offensive rebound. That was probably, for us, the best play of the game."

The backcourt duo of Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones has been touted as one of the best guard tandems in the nation, but had their hands full with N.C. State's Anthony "Cat" Barber and Trevor Lacey, who combined for 55-point performance in the second round against Pittsburgh.

Against Duke, the duo was held to just four.

Barber—who torched the Panthers for a career-high 34 points Wednesday—was held scoreless and exited the game in the second half after running in a hard screen by Amile Jefferson. Lacey's shot was off all night, as he shot just 2-of-8 and was constantly frustrated by Duke's mix of zone and man-to-man defense from Cook.

In addition to shutting down their counterparts, the Blue Devil duo combined for 22 points, eight assists and just one turnover. Sophomore guard Matt Jones added 11 points of his own to boost the Duke backcourt's outing.

"You have to respect [Barber's] first step. He's one of the tougher guys to guard," Cook said. "I was tired of Coach getting on me in film about not playing defense. So it took me three years to finally realize I had to play defense. But it's fun, it's fun. I've learned to enjoy playing great defense and my teammates have helped me."

The lone bright spot for the Wolfpack (20-13) was Ralston Turner, who contributed a team-high 16 points, 13 coming in the first half. N.C. State was held to 36 percent shooting on the afternoon, as Duke's varied defense had the Wolfpack off balance all evening.

On the other side of the court, six Blue Devils scored in double digits as the squad went 30-of-53 from the field. Between Winslow's drives, Okafor's post work and Plumlee's jams, Duke dominated the paint 46-22 and was able to draw the Wolfpack bigs into foul trouble early, with BeeJay Anya—N.C. State's top shot blocker—picking up three fouls in the first 13 minutes of the game.

"We played outstanding defense and shared the ball well, "Krzyzewski said. "We had six guys in double figures and 14 assists and only five turnovers. It was just an outstanding game."

Duke will face the winner of the Miami-Notre Dame quarterfinal matchup Friday at 9 p.m. to determine one of the spots in Saturday's championship game.