Duke returned to Cameron after an absence of almost three weeks, welcomed back Mike Krzyzewski from his seventh-floor hospital bed and continued NC State’s generation-long slump at Duke, with an 88-80 victory. Duke ran its record to 17-6 (6-4 ACC) and has its first winning streak in almost a month.
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If that sounds matter of fact, it was anything but. It was one of those rubber-band –lead games, where every time Duke seemed close to getting some separation, State would surge back and Duke would rebuild the lead and then it would compress again.
The Pack even led briefly in the second half, only for 18 seconds. But a young, thin Duke team had to fight for everything they got and didn’t really put it away until the final seconds.
Duke started Derryck Thornton for the second game in a row, joining the usual complement of Grayson Allen, Brandon Ingram, Matt Jones and Brandon Ingram.
Duke put Thornton on State’s marvelous guard Anthony "Cat" Barber, the ACC’s leading scorer. Thornton frustrated Thornton early, holding him scoreless for the game’s first 14:21.
"Derryck did a great job [on Barber]," Grayson Allen said. "I thought he defended him well, put great pressure on him."
Duke used a 17-6 run to go up 19-10. But Duke stayed stuck on 19 through five empty possessions. State clawed back, a key play coming with about eight minutes left in the half, when freshman wing Maverick Rowan came off a screen, buried a 3 and drew a foul. He converted the foul shot, making it 21-16, cutting a nine-point Duke lead to a five-point margin in one swoop.
But more importantly, the foul was Brandon Ingram’s second and put him on the Duke bench for the remainder of the half.
Then Barber heated up. Barber is a thoroughbred and thoroughbreds keep at it. Mixing sports, Krzyzewski called Barber the ACC’s "toughest out." Barber shrugged off his slow start by scoring nine points over the final 5:39 of the first half.
But Duke also has some horses. With Ingram sidelined, Duke went to Grayson Allen and up-and-down freshman Luke Kennard. Kennard was in up mode, coming off the bench and nailing three first-half 3-pointers.
Duke led 41-35 at intermission, with Allen (12), Kennard (11) and Rowan (12) in double figures.
"Luke’s the type of guy that can just rattle off four or five threes in a row," Allen says. "Tonight, we were both able to get hot from three. I think that’s a credit to our offense. . . . We’re getting a lot better at moving the ball around."
Kennard credited Allen with keeping his confidence up, noting that Allen told him "it’s about time."
Duke’s carefully-constructed first-half lead disappeared in a metaphorical blink-of-the-eye right after intermission. Ingram picked up his third foul only 34 seconds into the half. Thornton scored five quick points after a scoreless first half but then turned it over twice, each turnover more careless than the other, leading to a pair of breakaway dunks by Cody Martin, the second making it 46-45, less than three minutes into the second half.
Presumably exaggerating for affect, Krzyzewski said Duke’s world could have ended there.
It didn’t. Krzyzewski made a key decision to leave Ingram in.
Krzyzewski noted that Ingram didn’t handle foul trouble well in the Clemson loss but added that some people have to work three jobs, so learning to play through adversity is something Ingram has to do. "Having Brandon Ingram in the game is huge for us and I’m glad he’s able to handle that very well.
Ingram briefly stabilized things with a 3-pointer. State responded with a Barber 3-pointer and a la-up by Abdul-Malik Abu-assisted by Barber—and State had its only second-half lead, 50-49.
Duke kept working for good looks outside and kept knocking them down. Duke had a second-half stretch when six 3-pointers accounted for all 18 of their points, Thornton, Ingram, Kennard, Allen, Kennard and Kennard again.
The last of this flurry put Duke up 61-54.
All six of these 3-pointers were assisted, three of them by Matt Jones. Jones isn’t a natural point guard but he had six assists against State. Jones says it’s just finding a rhythm and hitting the open man. But his maturation as a playmaker could be a key to a Duke stretch run.
Allen kept attacking, kept getting fouled and kept making foul shots; he ended the afternoon 12-12 from the line.
A pair of Allen freebies gave Duke its biggest lead, 67-54, with 10:42 remaining.
But Barber put State on his back and kept it close.
Jones says under today’s rules, it’s almost impossible to stop Barber.
"If you touch him, it’s a foul. If you play off him, he hits the shot. If you play up on him, he goes by you. "
Barber scored 13 of State’s 15 points in a furious five-minute span that cut Duke’s lead to three. But the Blue Devils made 12 straight from the line in less than four minutes, salting it away.
The dagger came with Duke up 79-76 at the 3:19 mark. Ingram was fouled on a 3-point attempt. He made the first two but missed the third. But Ingram used his length to keep the rebound alive. Kennard ended up with it, Duke burned most of the new shot clock and Allen finished the five-point possession with a 3-pointer, Duke’s only field goal in the final 10 minutes.
"Our guys were very good," Krzyzewski summed up. "Our guys were tough."
It’s a quick turnaround, another one of those Saturday-Monday redeyes that nobody likes. Except the TV folks. It’s hard to know what to expect from a Louisville team likely still reeling from their recently announced post-season ban. But Kennard notes that Duke is Duke and teams find a way to get up for Duke.
Notes.
This was Duke’s first home game since January 18.
Duke has now won six of its last seven against State, nine of 11. State hasn’t won at Cameron since 1995, when Krzyzewski was out following back surgery. Krzyzewski hasn’t lost to State at Cameron since 1988. He is now 54-22 against the Wolfpack.
Allen led everyone with 28 points, hitting 6-11 from the field (4-7 on 3s), to go along with his perfect game from the foul line. He added four assists.
Allen scored 55 points in two Duke wins this week, including an 11-17 mark from beyond the arc.
Kennard and Barber each scored 26 points. Kennard was 6-11 on 3-pointers.
Plumlee grabbed 12 rebounds for Duke but Abu had 17 (and 16 points) for State, helping them to a 38-29 rebounding advantage.
Duke won with its shooting, 14-28 on 3-pointers, 24-32 from the foul line, with Plumlee and Jeter skewing the latter stat line by going 1-6. State even employed a hack-a-Plumlee late. Plumlee made one of two.
Ingram played the entire second half and never did pick up that fourth foul. And Thornton only had those two turnovers. Duke’s core-six accounted for 196 minutes, with Chase Jeter adding four first-half minutes.
Probably not sustainable over the long run. But the unranked Blue Devils don’t have the luxury of taking the long view.
And no, no update on Amile Jefferson’s return.
- Hot shooting from Kennard and Allen helps Duke men's basketball hold off N.C. State
- Allen, Kennard Lead Duke Past NC State 88-80
- Photos
- Box Score (PDF)
- Notes
- Quotes
- Season Stats (PDF)
- After returning to the sideline, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski details health issues
- Duke holds off Barber and NC State for 88-80 win
- NC State’s Barber impresses Krzyzewski in loss
- DeCock: Normalcy returns for both Duke, NC State