#4 Duke (16-1, 3-1) at State (11-6, 1-2)
7pm ESPN
For those of you that can’t — or more likely, choose not to — watch, you can check in here throughout the game for updates and random comments. I’ll try to get through the entire game, but no promises.
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We’ve won three of the last six in Raleigh, so this is a rivalry again. Mike Patrick says so.
Announcers: Mike Patrick and Jay Bilas
Starters
Duke: Smith, Dawkins, Kelly, Singler, Mason Plumless
State: Javi, Brown, Smith, Wood, Leslie
Patrick: “The RBC Center still filling up.” Although no one is making their way down any of the aisles. (Seriously, there aren’t 10,000 people there.)
1st Half
“We will win the ACC and be ranked in the Top 5 before it’s all over” (CJL)…better or worse than Gavin’s comment a few years ago?
15:01 – Duke 11-3. Business as usual. State 1-of-9 FG (11%). Hard to believe, huh.
Apparently Maryland laid the blueprint for beating Duke, and Lowe put the team through two tough days of practice. Now we can rest easy, it’s all under control.
11:32 – Duke 13-12. State on a 9-2 run over the previous 4:10, even after 4:17 scoring drought during which Duke missed four shots and two free throws. Baskets by Smith and Wood cut the lead to one into the TV timeout. State shooting 4-of-19 (21%) FG.
So far, Duke has four blocks and is dominating the boards 16-4, but Duke’s six turnovers have been the equalizer.
9:17 – Duke 27-16. Devils responded with a 14-4 run of their own, mainly by penetrating with ease and taking advantage of State’s sloppy play all around.
7:01 – Duke 32-22. Another field goal drought, 3:23 this time. That makes 7:40 of the 12:59 played during which State has not scored a field goal. 7-of-9 FTs keeping us in it.
I hear circus music.
We have an nearly an entire generation of students that have no idea how raucus this game would have been in Reynolds…win or lose. I never saw us beat Duke or Carolina in Reynolds; in fact, only saw us beat either of them — Carolina in ’98 — once during my entire time at State.
3:54 – Duke 37-26. This is one of those games where it looks like we’re hanging around, but only until Duke starts hitting its perimeter shots. We’re not losing for lack of effort tonight. We’d be winning if we were playing Cincinatti.
We have to be smart on offense or this will get away from us in a hurry. Great analysis, Jay Bilas. Being smart isn’t exactly out trademark.
Half – All Duke, 42-28. Nolan Smith leads all scorers with 10, while the only Dukie that didn’t score in the first half was Wojo. Tracy leads State with eight points, but as a team, State shot only 8-of-37 (22%) versus Duke’s 15-of-30 (50%), while hitting only 3-of-12 3PT, so it could’ve been worse. Duke also has seven blocks.
2nd Half
I wish I hadn’t comitted myself to this now, but that’s my fault, not yours, so I’ll press on. It’ll be over soon.
Maybe it’s because I’m old (31), but what’s with the straight-bill ball caps the kids wear nowadays? Is that the trend like the paying a premium for “worn” Abercrombie hats when I was a freshman?
Leslie 0-6, Brown 0-6, Harrow 0-5.
18:12 – Duke 44-35. State opens the half on a 7-2 run.
14:48 – Duke 52-46. So far this half, State has executed a similar gameplan to last year’s win over Duke, scoring in the paint and crashing the boards. State cut the lead to five around the 16:10 mark. Seth Curry is on the bench with four fouls. Wood has six points in the half and the Pack is showing a lot of intensity, which is refreshing.
10:58 – Duke 63-50. Well, hope y’all enjoyed that mini-run, because Duke countered with a 11-4 run of its own. State has cut the lead to five twice now, and is making it hard for Duke to score in the paint, contesting every basket, but Duke took advantage of a couple lazy and sloppy possessions to push the lead back to 13. Dawkins (3), Singler (3), and Curry (4) are all in foul trouble.
Does anyone actually watch the NBA?
7:27 – Duke 70-56. We’re shooting 31% but leading by eight at the free throw line. CJL and Wood have both come on strong in the half, with 13 and 12, respectively. We’re actually not playing too bad; with a little better shot selection, this is a close game.
Looks like a decent crowd, late arrivers — maybe 15,000?
5:06 – Duke 77-66. This has been a very physical game, and State has held its own, but just hasn’t managed that much-needed extended run after cutting the lead to five earlier.
3:56 – Duke 82-70. This one is over, but it’s the most fight I’ve seen all season, so I’m going to see it through. It’s weird how that works; Florida State only beat us by 13, but it was never that close; this one is 12, and feels much closer. Miles Plumlee has 13, just one off his career-high. Insert joke here.
Bilas says only dogs can hear Harrow’s voice, it’s so deep. Isn’t it the other way around?
Final – Duke 92-78 (ESPN.com Box Score). It took 30 mins, but State finally started trading baskets with Duke, but it was just too late. I really want to be pissed about this one, but after a rough beginning, it actually went about as well as we could realistically expect.
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