RALEIGH – The NC State men’s basketball team opened the 2023 portion of its schedule with a decisive 84-60 win over 16th-ranked Duke on Wednesday night in PNC Arena.
The victory was NC State’s third win in its four home games against Duke during the Kevin Keatts era. It also was the largest margin of victory for an unranked ACC team over a ranked Duke team in Blue Devil history.
Terquavion Smith led the Wolfpack in scoring with 24 points, while Jarkel Joiner added 21 and DJ Burns provided a spark off the bench and tied his season-high of 18 points. The Pack’s strong offensive effort was aided by a career high in rebounds from Casey Morsell with nine and a career high in assists from Joiner with nine, as well.
A strong start from the Wolfpack held Duke scoreless for more than seven minutes to open the game, as the Blue Devils started 0-for-12 from the field and would not tally their first points until the 12:20 mark in the first half.
After starting the contest on a 15-0 run, NC State’s lead grew to 22-4, with the Pack’s defense creating opportunities for its offense.
The 22 points scored by the Blue Devils in the first half was the second fewest by Duke in a half this season, and the 21 turnovers committed by the Blue Devils were the most this season.
NC State turned those 21 turnovers into 30 points as the Pack enjoyed a 30-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
NC State also outscored the Blue Devils, 25-7, in fastbreak points.
An impressive showing on both ends of the floor continued for the Wolfpack in the second half as NC State responded to back-to-back baskets from Duke to open the half with eight-consecutive points from Smith including two three-pointers which gave the Wolfpack its largest lead of the game to that point at 52-26.
NC State led by as many as 29 points on the evening, a mark it hit on two separate occasions, with the win serving as the Wolfpack’s first victory over a ranked opponent since a defeat of No. 21 Virginia on Feb. 24, 2021.
All 13 of NC State’s available players saw action, with Morsell adding eight points, Ebenezer Dowuona and Greg Gantt totaling four, LJ Thomas tallying three points, and Breon Pass finishing with two.
The 12-4 Wolfpack will now shift its focus to a Saturday-evening tilt against defending ACC Champion Virginia Tech. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Virginia Tech’s Cassell Coliseum and the game will be broadcast on Regional Sports Networks.
