WASHINGTON — For the first time since 2013, No. 11 Duke is leaving the ACC Tournament without a victory. NC State – playing its third game in three days – stunned the Blue Devils 74-69 to make the Blue Devils’ stay in the nation’s capital a short one.
No. 10 seed NC State will face the winner of Boston College vs. Virginia in the semifinals Friday. No. 2 seed Duke will head home with a uncharacteristic long wait until Selection Sunday.
The Wolfpack led by as much as 11 and by 10 late, but a long list of errors — three consecutive missed free throws and a blown dunk that resulted in a technical among them — helped Duke claw back to within two. That’s when DJ Horne stepped to the free-throw line, and after his makes, Duke had finally run out of rallies.
NC State made seven of 16 3-pointers (compared to five of 20 for Duke), but the biggest difference came via NC State’s 18-8 edge in second-chance points. Thirteen of those 18 came in the second half, as the Wolfpack answered every Duke surge. Kyle Filipowski had 28 points and 14 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who went one-and-done in the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2013.
The Blue Devils missed its first nine field goal attempts and never got on track offensively thereafter, especially from the perimeter. NC State led by as much as 11 early, but Filipowski kept Duke close with 12 first-half points. Horne’s tough runner at the first-half buzzer gave him 12 points to match Filipowski – and the Wolfpack a 37-34 lead.
Any hope that the break would get the Blue Devils’ offense going quickly fizzled, as NC State’s 6-0 run out of the break pushed the lead to nine.
Filipowski kept going, though, and Tyrese Proctor‘s layup cut the lead to two. NC State was undeterred. Casey Morsell immediately responded with an and-one to push the lead to five, and the Wolfpack answered seemingly every Duke surge with a bucket, a key rebound or a defensive stand. After Morsell’s basket and free throw, NC State scored 11 of its next 13 points via second-chance opportunities, at one point pushing the lead to 10.The teams went back and forth, with NC State holding a multi-possession lead – and seemingly home free, before things got wild late.
Filipowski brought it back to five, and NC State’s Ben Middlebrooks blew a wide-open dunk, getting assessed an administrative technical in the process. Duke got back to within two on McCain’s free throw and another Filipowski bucket down low as NC State missed three straight free throws. But a miracle comeback wasn’t in the works.
Horne – a constant all night – hit two free throws to get the lead to four with 15 seconds left, and Duke got no closer.
This story will be updated with takeaways
