NC State's ACC tournament run ends in the semis with 75-67 loss to Duke

T.J. Warren broke the single-season school record for 20-point games by scoring 21 on Saturday, but his effort wasn't enough to lead to the Pack to a big upset win for the second consecutive day. The Wolfpack were excellent overall at the offensive end, and averaged 1.21 points per possession, which will get it done on most occasions. But when you have a mediocre defense up against an elite offense, there are times when even 1.21 PPP isn't enough, and Saturday was one of those.

The Blue Devils left 11 points at the free throw line, but their effective shooting from the field both inside and out made pulling away pretty much just a matter of time. Duke hit 65.6% of its twos and 41.2% of its threes en route to averaging 1.36 points per possession.

So what now for the Wolfpack? It's looking like State could sneak into the NCAA tournament despite the loss today, but the margin is incredibly thin, if it exists at all. Joe Lunardi has moved State into the field as a No. 12 seed, and he even has the Pack avoiding Dayton for the First Four games. (UPDATE: LOL it's a typo hahahaha. It should be North Dakota State in that spot.) Patrick Stevens, who it should be noted has been way more accurate historically than Lunardi or Jerry Palm, has NC State among the last couple of teams in.

It's gonna be a long 22 hours or so.