WRALSportsFan
State Upsets Duke in ACC First Round
By Ryan Craig Mar 9, 2007
Duke hadn’t lost in the ACC Tournament since 2004…that is until State became the third lower seed to win on day one of this year’s single-elimination event, taking their game against Duke 85-80.
NC State looked to take command early as Josh McRoberts found himself on the bench with two fouls less than five minutes into the game. Courtney Fells scored on back to back possessions, the second of which was an emphatic dunk, to give the Pack a 10-6 lead.
Greg Paulus kept the Devils in it early though, hitting on three jumpers, the last of which was the first of back to back threes for Duke, as they regained the lead 18-14.
Brandon Costner scored six of State’s next eight points, as the Wolfpack led 23-21, but the Devils would punch back. Martynas Pocius, seeing increased minutes in the game because of the suspension to Gerald Henderson for his intentional foul on Tyler Hansbrough at the end of Sunday’s Carolina game, made the first of his two threes in a three possession span, as a 9-0 Duke run put the Devils up 30-23.
Costner scored the last of his 16 first half points on a lay-in with less than a minute left in the first stanza to bring NC State within 5 at the break.
Duke was hot from beyond the arc in the first half, shooting 6-11, including a perfect 3-3 from behind the line from freshman Jon Scheyer.
Costner benefited from McRoberts’ absence on the inside, as he made more shots than the rest of his teammates combined, seven field goals to six. Atsur, seeing action in this game after having to miss the first contest between these two teams because of injury, finished the half with no points on 0-4 shooting.
Duke opened the second half much as they played the first, as Scheyer hit his fourth three-pointer in as many attempts. Atsur would answer for the Pack, however, connecting on his first shot of the game to close the gap to 37-34. Ben McCauley would score on a beautiful up and under move against McRoberts and Atsur would follow with five straight points after a Paulus trey, as the score knotted at 41.
Josh McRoberts found the basket for the first time since the game’s third possession as he gave Duke the lead 43-42, but Atsur continued his second-half surge with his third three of the half to give the Pack a two point advantage.
Paulus found McRoberts for a nice reverse slam to make the score 51-49 and then hit his third three of the night to push the Devils lead to five. McCauley provided a quick answer inside, and after a McRoberts lay-in, State dropped in four straight lay-ups as part of a 15-6 run to give the Wolfpack their largest lead of the night at 66-62.
Pocius continued his career-night as his traditional three-point play gave Duke the 68-67 lead. But, Atsur would not let his team go quietly – his three gave the Pack a two point lead with just over a minute left but Nelson drove on Gavin Grant after a Duke time out to tie it at 70.
Several last-second shots by State came up short, including an Atsur three and another put-back attempt after a Fells jumper, as the two teams headed to overtime tied at 70.
Foul trouble finally caught up to Duke in the extra period, as both McClure and Nelson fouled out, leaving the Blue Devils short two starters at the most critical time. Ben McCauley continued his strong play inside as he put State up by three at 79-76, and Brandon Costner put the finishing touches on as he hit two foul shots to push his game high point total to thirty.
Copyright 2012 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Most Recent Comments
I am not Duke alum - I am a Duke fan and have been for years. At least no one is calling for Coach K's head on a platter or wanting him to be fired as some other teams have. Let's face it, ALL teams have new players coming in at some point and lose key players to graduation or draft. Let's not forget they even lose some due to injuries or criminal behavior.
We all know on any given day/night that ANY team can be beaten.
State has really struggled over the past few years and it's good to see that Lowe has made a difference in the teams desire to win. I will be pulling for State all the way! UNC has to beat Boston College in the next game - Go Boston!
Scheyer says, "Obviously we missed 'G', but there's no excuses". Where have I heard that song before? Oh yeah, "We accept full responsibility, if you think it was intentional then you're crazy", coach K. "Contradiction for your Confusion", the new #1 single by the Duke Blue Devils. Like father, like son I guess.
Newport31259, I already admitted there are obnoxious Duke fans. It could be that the number of these fans outnumber Duke alumni, but it's not likely. Given the passion and support for UNC, I have to believe that the number of fans (and therefore, a corresponding number of obnoxious fans) for UNC is many factors greater. Again, this is based on my understanding of enrollment, school history, and not to mention, local and global marketing (i.e. the Jordan effect).
Why do you disagree?
This pro-N.C. State message board is a microcosm of what I'm talking about. How many obnoxious/insulting comments have come from UNC fans versus Duke fans? The ratio is upheld no matter where you look.
Malone1, where's your common sense? I got a good laugh from Suspenderson.
hell, sidney lowe didn't even graduate from NCSU, does that make him a "bandwagon fan"?
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