Monday’s game is the 250th meeting between Duke and NC State, and the second straight year the Wolfpack has played at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke leads the all-time series, 147-102, and has won six of the last 10. The series favors the Blue Devils in Durham, 64-30, including 51-26 at Cameron Indoor.
Last time out the Wolfpack blasted the hapless Blue Devils by 22 with Markell Johnson scoring a career high 28 points. Since that game the Blue Devils have yet to fully recover, losing 3 of their 4 last contests and dropping drastically in the polls and also in seeding in both the ACCT and the NCAAT (projected).
The Opponent
The Wolfpack snapped a two-game slide with a 77-73 victory over Pitt Saturday in Raleigh. NC State has won four of its last seven in ACC play. Four players are averaging 12+ points per game, including leading scorer C.J. Bryce (13.4). Bryce also leads State on the boards at 6.2 per game. NC State (74.6) and Duke (82.1) are ranked fourth and first, respectively, in the ACC in scoring offense Markell Johnson (6.5) and Tre Jones (6.3) lead the ACC in assists, while Jones (+2.3) and Johnson (+2.1) are third and fifth, respectively, in assist/turnover ratio.
Duke
Duke remains No. 6 in the NET (as of Feb. 29), which is the primary evaluation tool used by the NCAA Men’s Basketball Selection Committee, for which Duke Director of Athletics Kevin White is the chairman. Of Duke’s Quad 1 wins, three (Kansas, Michigan State, Syracuse) came away from Cameron Indoor. Two of Duke’s losses this season came in back-to-back games without freshman Wendell Moore Jr. (broken hand), while its early-season loss was to Stephen F. Austin on a buzzer-beater in overtime. SFA is up to No. 79 in the NET, and is 26-3 overall and leads the Southland Conference at 17-1. Neither Moore nor Joey Baker (ankle) played in Duke’s loss at Clemson on Jan. 14. The Blue Devils’ overall strength of schedule is No. 25, while its non-conference strength of schedule is No. 7.
Duke is fourth nationally in scoring offense (82.1) and fifth in scoring margin (+14.4), joining Gonzaga as the only teams in the top five in both categories. Duke is also ranked 31st in field goal percentage (.470), and leads the ACC in all three stats above. Duke is 13-1 this season when scoring 85+ points. Eight of Duke’s 22 wins are by 30+ points, including five ACC wins by 30+, which is a new program record. The program’s previous record for most 30-point wins in ACC play was set in 1997-98, 1998-99 and 2000-01. The 39-point margin in the BC win (88-49) was Duke’s largest in an ACC
Duke is fifth in the NCAA and leads the ACC in blocked shots per game (6.0). Twenty-three times this season, Duke has blocked five or more shots, including in nine of the last 12 games. Duke is second in the ACC and 22nd nationally in steals per game (8.4). Nineteen times this season Duke has had eight or more steals in a game.
Vernon Carey Jr. leads the Blue Devils in both scoring and rebounding, nearly averaging a double-double with 17.6 points per game and 8.7 rebounds. Carey also leads the team in blocks at just under 2 per game. Tre Jones leads the Blue Devils in assists at 6.6 per game, he also averages 15.8 points and a team leading 2 steals per game. Cassius Stanley and Matthew Hurt round out the double figure scorers for the Blue Devils with 12.3 and 10.6 points per game respectively.
My Thoughts
Each time the Blue Devils have had a chance to play for the lead or a share of the lead in the conference they’ve been beaten by unranked teams. The regression of this particular Duke team has been perplexing to both fans and coaches with a clear lack of energy, emotion and execution in at least 2 of their last 3 losses. Duke didn't play badly at Virginia but with a margin for error as low as it is for this squad it only takes a play or 2 to lose a close game. The majority of Duke's troubles are on the offensive end - this is a team that lacks fluidity on offense and if they aren't generatint turnovers are prone to long stretches of ineptness on that end of the floor. The Blue Devils also have 1 capable ball-handler which makes them an easy team to pressure. There is rarely much energy coming from their bench and less in terms of production consistently. Even if the Blue Devils were to win their last 2 games they may have done irrepariable damage to their own psyche.
Is there a fix for this team? Well as much as the fans would love to assign blame to the coaching staff, the accountability lies in the execution. A game plan is only as solid as it is executed. It's very easy to assume a team isn't prepared because they falter but those assigning that blame, generally, have never coached beyond pee-wee league, have never been coached beyond that and aren't privy to the amount of work put in by the coaches and players. This is a case of execution. Starting with a lack of aggressive play offensively. A lack of valuing the basketball and a lack of (on occasion) basketball IQ. These are common plagues of a young team and whether or not these things get addressed will determine the life and longevity of this team and with no more chances on the road before the post season we'll all just have to hope for the best and support. Nobody's perfect - especially not us spoiled fans.
