Wolfpack upsets Blue Devils

N.C. State was in no mood for another close game. Instead, it made all the right moves in the second half to run away from seventh-ranked Duke on Wednesday night at the frenzied RBC Center.

The Wolfpack picked apart one of the top defenses in the country to win 88-74. It added up to one of the most impressive wins in Coach Sidney Lowe's career at his alma mater.

"That was just about the most complete game we've played all year," Lowe said. "…I was proud of the guys the way they finished it off."

Doing most of the damage was birthday-boy Tracy Smith, a junior who turned 22 yesterday. It didn't matter what defense the Blue Devils were in, Smith went right at the frontline of the Blue Devils and never flinched.

Wearing a birthday hat given to him by a fan during the wild celebration after the victory, Smith was all smiles in the locker room.

"We just fought and never let up and didn't let them run over us," said Smith, who had 23 points hitting 10 of 13 shots and controlling the middle all night. "We played hard, were physical and we kept our composure. What was key was we didn't let them do what they wanted to do. We had to be physical with them and match their intensity and I think we did that."

Backing Smith was Dennis Horner, who scored 20 points and point-guard Javier Gonzalez added 15 points, eight assists against just two turnovers. Farnold Degand scored 11 points and Scott Wood scored all of his 10 points in the second half.

The Wolfpack (13-6, 2-3 ACC) shot 58 percent, the highest a team has shot against the Blue Devils (15-3, 3-2) all season. The Wolfpack came into last night's game 11th in the ACC in shooting.

After leading by just three at halftime the Wolfpack scored on four of its first five possessions of the second half to get some breathing room. Perhaps one of the biggest shots came later when Wood made a running 3-pointer from the right wing with 12:45 to go that pushed the Wolfpack's lead to 63-49.

Eventually the Wolfpack led 69-52 after Horner made a cut down the middle of the Blue Devils defense and dunked it after a nice pass from Gonzalez.

"Scott got a wide open shot and from there we were rolling," Smith said.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Blue Devils, whose team has yet to win a true road game this season, managed to cut the margin to eight points on three different occasions.

The Blue Devils tried everything to slow down Smith.

"It didn't matter, I was just helping my team win," Smith said about the zone and man-to-man that the Blue Devils tried.

Krzyzewski said that his Blue Devils failed to match the Wolfpack's intensity.

"We were not very good," Krzyzewski said. "In order to beat them tonight you had to be terrific just to have a chance. They were really good, had great energy and looked fresh. We didn't look fresh at all and we couldn't match their energy."

When the Blue Devils first went to a zone in the second half it slowed the Wolfpack for a while, but it didn't work for long.

"Our defense was the worst it's been all year," Krzyzewski said. "It was never, ever good tonight. And I thought Horner had a great game today."

The 17-point deficit the Blue Devils faced after Horner's dunk was the most they had been behind all season.

Guard Jon Scheyer of the Blue Devils said: "We expected them to come out firing in their home gym. Since I've been here whether they are having a so-so year or a great year they always play us really tough. We knew it was going to be a tough game and they just played better defense than us."

Lowe, who will turn 50 today, said that the Blue Devils didn't try to double-team Smith very much and because of that Smith was able to pick his spots.

"They play great defense," Lowe said about the Blue Devils. "They decided they weren't going to help when Tracy got the ball … We took advantage of what was available to us."

When the Blue Devils cut the margin into single digits several times the groans from some of the Wolfpack fans could be heard. There have been plenty of meltdowns this season, but it didn't happen last night.

"We responded when they made runs," Lowe said.

Kyle Singler led the Blue Devils with 22 points and Scheyer added 21 with Nolan Smith scoring 18.

Lance Thomas, one of several Blue Devils who tried his hand at guarding Tracy Smith, said: "He's a good player. He's been doing what he's been doing all season. We didn't find him as well as we should have on defense."

jdell@wsjournal.com
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