North Carolina State upset second-seeded Duke in pursuit of the ACC Tournament championship with a 74-69 quarterfinal victory Thursday in Washington, DC.
It was the first game in the tournament due to a double-bye as the No. 11 Blue Devils finished first in the conference. They haven't lost a conference tournament opener since 2013, and an early exit doesn't bode well for the team's seeding in the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Devils missed their first nine field goal attempts, an early indicator of offensive struggles to come. Duke sophomore Kyle Filipowski left the contest with 28 points and 14 rebounds. He led 9-0 in the first half, but was hammered by NC State center DJ Burns Jr.'s defense in the second half.
The Wolfpack came out strong, keeping the tournament momentum going from Tuesday's win over Louisville, Wednesday's No. Completed the loss against No. 7 seed Syracuse. They have now won three straight games in three days, a complete turnaround from their previous four-game losing streak.
NC State's 5-for-11 shooting from the 3-point line helped the team take a 35-32 lead.
Returning from injury, starting guard DJ Horne came off the bench to score 12 first-half points for NC State. His score in the first half included a buzzer-beater to end the period. He added six more points before the end of the game.
Duke never took the lead in the second half. But it looks like the Blue Devils will benefit from an all-time slump with 32 seconds left, as this missed dunk by Ben Middlebrook highlights the late errors from NC State:
Filipowski capitalized on two missed free throws by Mohamed Tiara with 21 seconds left to get a defensive rebound and bring the Blue Devils within two points, 71-69. The Duke big man fouled out in the final 15 seconds, sending Horne to the free throw line.
Horn made both of his attempts to put the team up 73-69. Diarra was the next NC State player to foul out, and he went 1-for-1 to end the game.
Next, the Wolfpack will face the winner of Thursday night's quarterfinal matchup between Virginia and Boston College.
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