Down Goes Duke: NC State Pummels Blue Devils

"We were not competitive tonight"--Coach K

Coach Mike Krzyzewski did not pull any punches after Wednesday’s game at NC State.

“We were not competitive tonight,” the Hall of Fame coach said after Duke fell to the Wolfpack 88-66 at PNC Arena. It was Duke’s fifth loss in the last six trips to NC State.

As Krzyzewski said, the game was all NC State from tip off to the court rush at the end. The Wolfpack scored the first four points of the game and went up 10-1. Duke never led, and after a Markell Johnson three put State up 25-13 with 8:54 to go in the first half, the Blue Devils never got within single digits.

In a matchup of two of the best point guards in the ACC, Johnson had a lopsided advantage, scoring a career high 28 points and hitting his first five three-point attempts. He added nine rebounds, four assists against just one turnover and two steals.

His counterpart on Duke, Tre Jones, shot just 6-of-18 from the field for 17 points. He had nine rebounds, four assists and two turnovers.

Duke center Vernon Carey Jr. had 27 points and 12 rebounds, but he shot just 10-of-20 from the field and struggled against NC State’s DJ Funderburk, who had 21 and nine.

Duke shot just 37.7% from the field and 4-of-17 from three. The Blue Devils also hit just 10 of 22 free throw attempts and were outrebounded by eight.

The win gives NC State a significant win for its NCAA resume.

“It’s hard to stay hungry when you’ve been well-fed,” Krzyzewski said of his team, contrasting that with an NC State team that “needed a win.”

“I guess our team didn’t need a win as badly,” he concluded.