RALEIGH, N.C. — Time was running out in the first half and N.C. State’s Jarkel Joiner was seemingly pinned deep in the left corner, unable to get off a final shot.
But Joiner turned and let it go. The shot dropped for a 3-pointer and Joiner and the Wolfpack soon were dancing off the PNC Arena court, leading Duke by 22 points.
That’s right: 22 points.
It was that kind of night for the Wolfpack, which made it a special one Wednesday with an 84-60 victory.
If it was a special game for the Pack (12-4, 2-3 ACC), it was a very bad one for the No. 16 Blue Devils (11-4, 2-2), who spent much of the first half with a 1,000-yard stare and didn’t score for nearly the first eight minutes of the game — that bad.
To beat the Blue Devils, the Pack’s Terquavion Smith and Joiner had to be at their best, and they were. Smith shook off a slow shooting start to finish with 24 points and Joiner had 21 as the two quick-twitch guards combined to hit nine of the Wolfpack’s 10 3-pointers as N.C. State was 10 of 26 from the arc.
Then there was the crowd favorite, center D.J. Burns. Working against Duke’s group of talented bigs, the Pack’s big man had 18 points, making seven of 10 shots, and had the crowd chanting “DJ! DJ!’ in the closing minutes of the game.
Kyle Filipowski led the Blue Devils with 14 points.
Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts had his team ready. Inspired and ready, willing to do whatever was needed to win an ACC game against its old Big Four rival.
The Pack hit shots. Playing without injured forward Jack Clark, its leading rebounder, the Wolfpack fought on the boards against the taller Blue Devils. It forced turnovers, ran the floor in transition.
Trailing 44-22 at the half, Duke scored the first two baskets of the second half. There was a semblance of patience, good offensive spacing, the Blue Devils looking inside to its big guys.
But then Smith hit a 3-pointer. Moments later, Smith hit another. Just like that it was 52-26, Pack, and Smith celebrating with fans at courtside.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer was up quickly, again using a timeout. The hole was getting bigger.
Duke looked the part of a badly rattled team in the first half as the Wolfpack lead continued to grow.
The passes were infrequent, the turnovers many for the Blue Devils. Shots failed to drop, some were blocked and the Duke defense was spotty.
The Pack wasn’t always pretty but the effort was there, nonstop as it added to its lead in the opening half.
The Pack led 15-0 before the Blue Devils managed their first points on a put-back dunk by Mark Mitchell — with 12:20 left in the first half. But Smith followed with 3 and the Pack was off again, jumping ahead 22-4.
Scheyer, usually so cool on the bench, used timeouts to try and stall Wolfpack runs. On one timeout, he faced off with his players for some heated words.
Dariq Whitehead finally made a 3 the Blue Devils, then another to close the gap to 24-10. The Blue Devils also turned to a 1-3-1 zone to try and slow and confuse the Pack.
But Joiner hit a 3, then Smith stole the inbounds pass, turned and knocked in another 3-points. Just like that it was 32-14.
Nothing seemed to work for the Blue Devils. With fouls to give in the final seconds of the half, they used three fouls, only to have Joiner bomb in the 3-pointer as the half ended.
