NC State 87, Duke 75: Wolfpack delivers enormous upset victory

Box Score

There's not so much doom in DOOM WEEK after, all. NC State put together an outstanding performance at the perfect time, and pulled off an upset victory over Duke. The Pack gets to put a huge bullet point on its NCAA tournament resume as well. That is exactly what this group needed.

Trevor Lacey was spectacular all afternoon, nailing jumper after jumper in the face of Duke defenders, while Ralston Turner was able to take advantage of the occasions where he got free. With those two playing well, State also got big contributions from the frontcourt--the kids who have been hit or miss all year each had their moments in the upset, which was a big key.

In the first half, it was Kyle Washington sparking the offense with some jumpers, including a three-pointer from straightaway. Abdul-Malik Abu was the beneficiary of some good interior passing and had several dunks.

In the second half, BeeJay Anya looked like the player he could be, maybe not this year, but eventually. Anya was not only being disruptive defensively, he was also scoring key baskets, and on some nice, real actual basketball moves, too! His put-back dunk in the latter stages to help stop the bleeding was a crucial moment as NC State clearly was reeling under the pressure of Duke's rally and the moment.

NC State led by 19 after a Trevor Lacey three with less than six minutes to go, but Duke quickly sliced that lead to eight as State got out of sorts offensively because it was trying to kill too much clock. But there would be no disaster--NC State relaxed a bit after Anya's slam, and the Pack did a nice job at the free throw line to salt the game away.

With the win, NC State is 12-5 overall and 3-1 in ACC play. Also with this win, WOOOOOOOOOOOOO