N.C. State Upsets No. 7 Duke, 88-74

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Raleigh, NC (Sports Network) - Tracy Smith celebrated his 22nd birthday in style by recording a game-high 23 points as North Carolina State upended No. 7 Duke, 88-74, at RBC Center.

Dennis Horner posted 20 points and Javier Gonzalez added 15 for the Wolfpack (13-6, 2-3 ACC), who had dropped two of three. Farnold Degand had 11 and Scott Wood contributed 10 for the victors, who were coming off a home loss to Clemson on Saturday.

“That was an outstanding game,” said NC State head coach Sidney Lowe. “I was so happy for our guys. That’s as close as we’ve been to playing a 40-minute game. We got stops when we needed to and made free throws in critical situations. We just played great tonight.”

Kyle Singler poured in 22 points and Jon Scheyer had 21 for the Blue Devils (15-3, 3-2), who had won two straight. Nolan Smith added 18 for Duke, which turned in easy home wins against Boston College and Wake Forest before Wednesday’s setback.

“Our defense was the worst it’s been all year,” said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “It was never, ever good tonight. I don’t know what that was. Obviously, our big guys weren’t on like they were the last two games...I didn’t think that we as a group played at the level we needed to play at.”

The Wolfpack’s Smith hit a running lay-in to establish a 50-41 edge for the home team early in the second half, and Wood’s bucket just inside the three- point line pushed the lead to 54-43 a little more than three minutes in. A jumper from Julius Mays and a trey by Wood then gave NC State a solid 63-49 lead with 12:49 to play.

Duke’s cold streak from the field, fueled by hurried shots from long range continued thereafter, and Horner’s slam with 8:54 remaining provided the Wolfpack with a 69-52 margin.

A quick burst from the Blue Devils did follow, as Singler’s jumper with 4:48 left completed a 12-3 run for a 72-64 game. That was as close as the perennial national power got, as Gonzalez hit a three and then four free throws late for an 82-71 game inside of two minutes remaining.

Scheyer’s three gave Duke an early 13-8 advantage, but a 13-2 run by NC State put it ahead by six with 8:36 to play in the half after Horner hit a layup.

Gonzalez and Horner then hit from beyond the arc, pushing the edge to 29-19, before Duke responded with a 10-2 burst to climb within 31-29 on a Smith trey.

Smith closed out the half with a quick catch-and-release three at the buzzer to get Duke within 41-38.

Duke had won the last three meetings...The Blue Devils dominated on the glass by a 40-28 margin, but committed 14 turnovers to just nine for the Wolfpack...Lance Thomas posted a game-best 12 rebounds in defeat.