TONY HAYNES
Raleigh, N.C. – Was that a freight train or merely an avalanche? Actually, it was No.3 Duke scoring points on 24 of 31 second half possessions in its 92-72 victory over NC State on Thursday night.
The Blue Devils, down by nine at the break, outscored the Wolfpack 55-26 in the second half, hitting 7-of-11 from 3-point range and making 66 percent of their field goal attempts after intermission.
“I really can’t believe that happened,” said Pack forward Gavin Grant, who had a career-high 26 points. “I thought it was going down to the wire and it was going to be won in the last couple of minutes. I can’t believe the game got out of hand like that.”
Hopefully, while it was dusting itself off, NC State didn’t bother to even look back when the team bus pulled out of the Cameron Indoor Stadium parking lot.
A glance into the rear view mirror at this point would be counterproductive, especially since yet another ‘Tobacco Road’ rival will be coming into the neighborhood this Sunday (noon tip). Wake Forest, everyone’s sentimental favorite in the wake of coach Skip Prosser’s sudden and tragic death over the summer, appears to be playing for a cause much larger than its collective body.
Already possessing a pair of buzzer-beating ACC wins, compliments of sophomore point guard Ishmael Smith, the Deacons are 13-6 overall and 3-3 in league play. NC State (13-7, 2-4) has a golden opportunity to reach the halfway point of the league campaign with a .500 ACC record, but that will happen only if it can take care of business at home in its next two games.
Following Sunday’s nooner against Wake, coach Sidney Lowe’s Pack will have a quick 48-hour turnaround before Tuesday’s RBC Center tilt versus Virginia Tech. Both games are eminently winnable, but only if State can shake Thursday’s second half collapse at Duke and build on an inspirational opening 20 minutes that saw the Wolfpack run out to a 46-37 advantage over the Blue Devils.
“I still think we’re moving forward,” Lowe said. “To have the lead at the half, we did some nice things. Now we have to take the next step. To beat a team like that on the road, we have to come out in the second half and do the same thing, and do it even better.”
Barring a Duke hangover, there’s every reason for Lowe to believe that his team is indeed getting better. Freshman point guard Javier Gonzalez has improved by leaps and bounds since often looking overwhelmed in the Wolfpack’s first two ACC road games. On Thursday night at Duke, Gonzalez kept his dribble alive against intense pressure, ran the team and made some big plays off the dribble in the first half. After going scoreless in last weekend’s win at Florida State, Brandon Costner showed signs of life by tallying 14 off the bench against the Blue Devils.
To take the next step, the Pack must get the most out of every possession by not turning the ball over, compete better on the boards, and become more consistent with its communication on the defensive end of the floor.
“We’ve got so much talent, but we’re not clicking the way we need to be clicking,” Grant said. “Brandon averaged a bunch of points last year; J.J. [Hickson] is a McDonald’s All-American; Courtney [Fells], Ben [McCauley] and I are more than capable. We’ve got the talent, but we’ve got to play the right way. We only play the right way in spurts. We need to play the right way for 40 minutes.”
Playing the right way means doing all the little things on a consistent basis and being able to seize the moment in close, tightly contested games. “Making plays at the right time,” Lowe calls it.
One key sequence at Duke on Thursday night provided a perfect illustration. With 15:31 left in the game, Fells made a stunning play when he blocked forward Lance Thomas’s shot with his right hand and somehow pulled the ball away in the same motion. He then fired a long pass to Gonzalez, who fed Grant for a dunk that gave NC State a 55-52 lead. But just as Cameron Indoor Stadium was about to grow uncharacteristically silent, the Blue Devils hurried the ball up the floor and got Greg Paulus open for a game-tying 3-pointer. Instead of making the most of one of this year’s most spectacular plays (another ESPN Top 10 highlight for Fells), the Wolfpack flinched and failed to get back on defense.
It was a lightning-quick turnaround that proved to be a defining moment for both teams. Paulus’s 3 ignited a decisive 15-1 Duke run from which NC State would never recover.
As Duke and North Carolina try to separate themselves from the rest of the pack, the other 10 teams in the ACC continue to jockey for position. At this point, the difference between three through 12 appears to be paper thin at best, meaning the next two games are absolutely crucial for the Wolfpack.
Having already dropped a home game to Georgia Tech, the Pack can ill-afford another first half setback at the RBC Center.
Youthful Wake Forest will provide another test on Sunday. Just as all families bond together in the aftermath of a tragedy, the Deacons have found strength through their efforts to honor the memory of their former coach. Athletic forward James Johnson is averaging an unfreshman-like 16 points and seven rebounds against ACC competition. Yet another rookie, guard Jeff Teague, was 5-of-6 from 3-point range in a 27-point explosion during Wake’s dramatic 70-68 triumph over Miami this week.
And Smith, a year older and a year wiser, now has developing instincts that can nearly match his eye-popping speed.
The Deacons haven’t yet won an ACC game on the road, but came within an eyelash of doing so last weekend in an overtime loss at Clemson.
Don’t look back Pack. That wasn’t a freight train nor was it an avalanche. It was just a very good Duke team playing its best half of the year.
The next game is all that matters.
Courtesy: Associated Press
