DURHAM, N.C. _ Dennis Smith lifted N.C. State to something it hadn't accomplished in his lifetime Monday night.
The Wolfpack freshman scored 32 points as N.C. State beat No. 17 Duke 84-82 for its first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995.
The Wolfpack claimed the win as Duke played without head coach Mike Krzyzewski on the bench. Krzyzewski is recovering from back surgery. Krzyzewski was also not on the bench in 1995 due to back problems.
Duke, after leading by 12 points in the first half and as many as nine in the second half, nearly erased a six-point deficit in the final minute. But Jayson Tatum dribbled off his foot while trying to set up a tying shot in the final seconds.
N.C. State (14-7, 3-5) shot 55 percent in the second half to pull out the stunning upset.
After seeing its 12-point first-half lead melt away early in the second half, Duke (15-5, 3-4) rebuilt a 68-59 lead with 6:50 to play.
But while Duke failed to score on five of its next six possessions, Smith and the Wolfpack climbed back into the game and used a 20-5 run to take the lead for good.
Ted Kapita hit four consecutive free throws before Grayson Allen sank a jump shot for a 70-63 Duke lead.
But Smith scored N.C. State's next four points, hitting two free throws and, after Matt Jones missed a 3-pointer, Smith completed a fast break with a spinning layup leaving Duke up 70-67.
Following a Duke turnover, Smith zipped a pass from in front of N.C. State's bench under the basket to Abdul-Malik Abu, whose dunk cut Duke's lead to 70-69.
Harry Giles missed a free throw, and Smith responded with a 3-pointer to give N.C. State a 72-70 lead with 3:09 left.
Luke Kennard briefly put Duke in front 73-72 with a 3-pointer, but Smith found Abu for another dunk to put N.C. State in front for good a 74-73.
While Duke was missing 3-pointers on its next three possessions, Maverick Rowan hit a 3-pointer for N.C. State and Smith added a layup for a 79-73 Wolfpack lead with 1:26 to play.
The Wolfpack then survived a frantic finish.
After Smith pulled the Wolfpack close at halftime, the Wolfpack used the first four minutes of the second half to take their first lead since the game's early minutes.
Duke lead 48-40 before Ted Kapita scored with 17:36 to play. Jones missed a reverse layup and Smith, handling the ball in transition, dished a pass to Abdul-Malik Abu for a slam dunk.
After Kapita drew an offensive foul on Giles, he rebounded an Abu miss and slammed home two more points for a 48-46 Duke lead. Kapita was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim.
Tatum missed the technical free throw and then Smith stole the ball from Jackson as the Duke freshman was starting a play in a half-court set. Rowan converted the turnover with a 3-pointer that gave N.C. State a 49-48 lead with 16:24 to play.
After a Duke timeout, Abu's acrobatic tip in over Duke's Giles extended the Wolfpack run to 11 points in a row for a 51-48 lead.
The score was tied 56-all with 11:30 to play when Jones turned the game toward Duke again.
The senior guard drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner in front of the Blue Devils bench to put Duke in front with 11:20 to play.
With 11:06 to play Jones stole the ball from Smith to start a Duke fast break. It ended as Jones lofted a pass toward the rim and Frank Jackson slammed it home.
After a traveling violation by N.C. State's Torin Dorin, Kennard drove through the lane to score and draw a foul. His free throw put Duke up 64-56 with 10:31 to play.
The Blue Devils' 8-0 run took less than a minute.
Smith's personal heroics kept N.C. State within striking distance at halftime. He scored 18 points, nearly half of the Wolfpack's output as Duke led 44-38 at intermission.
The Blue Devils built their largest lead, 44-32, with 36 seconds left but Smith pulled N.C. State back. But Smith drove for a layup and, after being fouled by Jones, added a free throw.
After Jones traveled as Duke was working its end-of-the-half play, Smith used the six seconds left to drill a 3-pointer from just in front of the Blue Devils bench to leave Duke with a six-point lead.
Playing against an N.C. State team that's last in the ACC in defensive efficiency, Duke passed the ball well and avoided turnovers in the first half.
The Blue Devils didn't commit a turnover over the game's first eight minutes while taking a 20-15 lead.
Duke collected 12 assists on 17 made field goals in the first half, with Tatum and Kennard claiming three each while Allen and Jackson had two assists apiece.
The Blue Devils led 28-21 and had a chance to pull away but Smith wouldn't let them. Smith scored four points in a row, with two free throws followed by a drive through Duke's half-court defense for a layup to slice Duke's lead to three points.
Duke scored the next six points, highlighted by a Jones 3-pointer and Allen's reverse layup in transition to lead 34-25.
But Smith halted Duke's run with a step-back 3-pointer.
