North Carolina State hands Duke first loss

RALEIGH, N.C. — It began with a few shots falling for North Carolina State, and it continued all the way to an upset of previously undefeated Duke.

The Wolfpack hit a slew of 3-point baskets and knocked off No. 2 Duke 87-75 in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Sunday afternoon at PNC Arena, where fans flooded the court to celebrate.

“We had to play that way against a No. 2 team out there,” N.C. State guard Trevor Lacey said. “We played well and it couldn’t be any better.”

Lacey scored 21 points, aided by five 3-pointers, and guard Ralston Turner pumped in 16 points, with four 3s, for N.C. State (12-5, 3-1 ACC), which made 10 of its first 14 3-point attempts.

Sophomore forward BeeJay Anya’s career-high 14 points off the bench also gave the Wolfpack a boost.

“We executed the offense about as good as we could,” N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said. “The other thing was that we got some production out of our interior guys, which changes our team.”

The result means top-ranked Kentucky and No. 3 Virginia are the only remaining undefeated Division I teams in the country.

Duke (14-1, 2-1) was aiming to start a season with a 15-0 mark for the second time in three years.

“We’ve got to be tougher as a team,” Duke guard Tyus Jones said. “That’s what it came down to. As a team, we’ve got to be tougher.”

Center Jahlil Okafor’s 23 points and guard Quinn Cook’s 18 points paced Duke. Guard Rasheed Sulaimon tallied 11 points, while forward Justise Winslow had 10 points before fouling out.

At one juncture in the final minute, N.C. State was 10 of 16 on 3-pointers and 10 of 16 on free throws.

N.C. State blocked 10 shots, four of those by Anya.

“I was just trying to play ball,” Anya said. “When I play well, I get emotional. … That was the first time I’ve ever been part of a court storming. It was crazy.”

After Duke pulled even at 42-42, the Wolfpack went wild on offense. Turner hit 3-pointers on the next two possessions.

When guard Anthony Barber scored his first points of the game on a drive in the lane, the Wolfpack were up 50-44.

At 55-48, Duke faced its largest deficit of the season. The margin grew to 62-49, 66-52, 69-52 and 72-53.

“They made big shots,” Cook said. “We’ve got to learn from this.”

The Blue Devils scored the next 11 points, closing the gap to eight points by the 3:07 mark. Two 3-point attempts on Duke’s next possession bounced off before the Wolfpack responded.

“We really began to become way too conservative too early,” Gottfried said. “The good thing is we had a big enough lead we didn’t lose all of it.”

So even Duke’s 16-4 run didn’t matter.

The Blue Devils cut the margin to seven points with 1:38 left, but could get no closer.

“We weren’t able to keep (the margin) low enough that we were able to come back,” Jones said.

N.C. State held a 37-34 halftime lead, marking the first time Duke trailed at halftime this season. The Wolfpack shot 51.7 percent (15 of 29) from the field in the opening half.

N.C. State stormed ahead on seven consecutive points (in a 73-second stretch) by forward Kyle Washington, using an 11-0 run to grab a 34-29 edge.

Seven of N.C. State’s first 12 field goals were dunks. That interior offense helped set a tone.

“It got them a little bit more concerned about how they were going to defend around the rim,” Gottfried said, figuring that might have created more space for shooters on the perimeter.

Okafor scored eight points in the first six minutes. Later in the half, the Blue Devils endured a stretch of more than eight minutes without a field goal.

Lacey poured in 10 points in the first 10 minutes, keeping N.C. State within 22-21.

NOTES: Duke made its first change to its starting lineup this season, with G Matt Jones starting in place of F Amile Jefferson. The Blue Devils went back to Jefferson to start the second half. … N.C. State