Duke held its ground when N.C. State threatened its lead on Wednesday night, and had the perfect solution for every problem in a 92-78 win at the RBC Center.
N.C. State twice cut Duke's advantage to five points after halftime, after trailing 42-28 at the break, with the help of an altered lineup. Coach Sidney Lowe put Ryan Harrow and Scott Wood in the backcourt, and had Tracy Smith, C.J. Leslie and Richard Howell in the frontcourt to generate the comeback.
The five-point margins were the smallest by which Duke had led since holding an 18-14 lead with 11:05 left in the first half. Duke responded each time to rebuild its lead, and tightened its defense inside behind big men Miles Plumlee and his brother, Mason.
Point guard Nolan Smith said that the Blue Devils were determined to not make the same mistake again in the RBC Center that they did last season, when the Wolfpack won 88-74.
"I did take it personal," Smith said. "When a team makes a run at us, I know that I can get a basket. I'm confident in my scoring abilities, either to make the play myself or get the ball to a wide open teammate."
Duke's total effort and N.C. State's futility were summed up in a five-minute period late into play. Down 68-52, N.C. State made eight consecutive baskets and knocked only five points off the lead at 82-71.
Duke scored on its next three possessions, getting a layup from Smith, a 3-point shot from Kyle Singler from the left wing, and a dunk on a follow shot by Mason Plumlee. The lead was back to 89-76, and only 93 seconds were left.
Wood said he was confident that N.C. State had improved its chances of pulling another upset when the lead was whittled to five points, but said that mistakes and shortcomings thwarted the effort.
"That's the story of our season right there," Wood said. "We haven't got over the hump yet. We've just got to execute when it gets down to the nitty gritty."
Execution against Duke has to be near perfect, Wood said, even at home, to come back and wrest away a lead.
"Teams that fight adversity are really good," Wood said. "My high-school coach always told me the game of basketball is whoever has the most runs will win the game, and I feel like every time we had a run, they had an answer for it."
The Blue Devils improved to 17-1 overall and to 4-1 in the ACC. Smith had 22 points and six assists. Singler had 18 points and nine rebounds. Mason Plumlee scored only seven, but grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked six shots.
The Wolfpack fell to 11-7 and 1-3 and suffered its third consecutive loss in ACC play. Tracy Smith had 19 points and nine rebounds, and Wood and Harrow added 15 points each.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Duke's play inside was crucial to the win. Duke held a 44-34 rebounding advantage, with Ryan Kelly and Miles Plumlee adding eight rebounds each. The Blue Devils held the Wolfpack to 21.6 percent shooting from the field in the first half.
N.C. State missed nine of its first 10 shots and Duke never trailed. Duke led by eight points in less than five minutes and was up 32-18 with eight minutes left before halftime.
"All nine guys contributed for us," Krzyzewski said. "Nolan kept us afloat, which he's done the whole year. I think the fact that we were able to block some shots and hold our own on the boards was really the difference in the ballgame, because they're really athletic and very good."
bcole@wsjournal.com
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