Trevor Lacey poured in 21 points and Ralston Turner added 16 of his own as the North Carolina State Wolfpack knocked off #2 Duke in Raleigh, NC on Sunday afternoon.

The loss was the first of the season for Duke, who struggled mightily to contain the hot-shooting Wolfpack. NC State made 55% of its field goal attempts including a gaudy 10 of 16 from behind the arc in the team’s biggest win of the season.

Duke was unable to come all the way back after facing a 19-point deficit in the second half. A deep shot by Matt Jones cut the Wolfpack lead to 7 with just over 90 seconds remaining, but costless throws and two fast break dunks allowed the home team to stay in front for good.

Jahlil Okafor scored 23 points to pace the Blue Devils, but he had very little offensive help from his teammates. The other four Duke starters combined to go only 11 of 40 from the field as the Devils hit only 36% of their shots on the afternoon.

North Carolina State chose to run double teams at Okafor and dared the Duke perimeter players to make enough shots to stay in front. Okafor was limited to only 11 shot attempts, and the strategy ultimately worked out for the Wolfpack which lead 37-33 at the half and then stretched its bulge to 72-53 with just under 6 minutes left in the game.

Duke mounted a furious rally, but could never claw its way back. A team that has long survived on long range shots, Duke could not muster any success from behind the arc against the Wolfpack making only seven of its 27 attempts.

The game was played at PNC Arena, home to the Wolfpack, and a floor upon which Duke has lost 4 of its last five games, including a loss to Mercer in the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament.

The loss drops Duke to 14-1 (2-1 in ACC play) while the Wolfpack improves to 12-5 (3-1).

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