Wolfpack whips 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 last 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 front line of the Blue Devils and never flinched.

"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."

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.

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. 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.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils, who have 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 Smith.

"It didn't matter, I was just helping my team win," Smith said of 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."

The 17-point deficit that the Blue Devils faced after a dunk by Horner (69-52) 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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DUKE Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Smith 40 7-14 2-2 2-2 2 3 18

Singler 40 6-16 10-12 2-5 0 4 22

MiPlumlee 10 0-1 0-0 1-3 0 2 0

Scheyer 39 5-16 8-10 2-4 2 2 21

Thomas 33 2-3 1-2 4-12 2 3 5

MaPlumlee 13 1-3 0-0 0-3 1 3 2

Dawkins 9 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Kelly 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Zoubek 14 1-4 4-7 5-9 1 4 6

Totals 200 22-57 25-33 17-40 8 21 74

Percentages: FG .386, FT .758; 3-Point Goals: 5-13, .385 (Scheyer 3-7, Smith 2-3, Singler 0-3); Team Rebounds: 2; Blocked Shots: 1 (Thomas); Turnovers: 14 (Singler 3, Thomas 3, Zoubek 2, Smith 2, Dawkins, Mi.Plumlee, Ma.Plumlee, Scheyer); Steals: 4 (Scheyer, Smith, Singler, Zoubek).

NCSU Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Gonzalez 32 4-9 5-6 0-3 8 2 15

Degand 31 3-6 4-5 1-4 6 2 11

Wood 37 3-5 3-3 0-2 1 3 10

TSmith 37 10-12 3-4 1-5 0 3 23

Horner 25 8-15 3-5 0-2 2 5 20

Howell 15 3-5 1-3 2-5 1 3 7

Vandenberg 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0

Williams 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 0

Davis 3 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 1 0

Mays 11 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 2

Totals 200 32-55 19-26 6-28 18 24 88

Percentages: FG .582, FT .731; 3-Point Goals: 5-12, .417 (Gonzalez 2-4, Wood 1-1, Degand 1-1, Horner 1-5, Howell 0-1); Team Rebounds: 5; Blocked Shots: 5 (T.Smith 3, Vandenberg, Horner); Turnovers: 9 (Howell 3, Gonzalez 2, Degand, T.Smith, Williams, Horner); Steals: 5 (Degand, Horner, Howell, Mays, T.Smith).

Duke 38 36 -- 74


N.C. State 41 47 -- 88

A--18,925