In a three-on-one fast break late in the second half, Duke missed two straight layups. Sean Stewart grabbed the rebound and kicked it out to Jared McCain
The freshman buried a triple as he fell back and drew contact. He hit a free throw to give Duke a 14-point lead late as the Blue Devils took down NC State. McCain finished the game with 16 points on 6/13 shooting.
Duke (24-6, 15-4 ACC) took down the Wolfpack (17-13, 9-10 ACC) 79-64 in the Blue Devils’ final road game of the season on Monday night. Jeremy Roach led Duke in scoring with 21 points (9/17 shooting).
The NC State Wolfpack opened the game on a 9-0 run as Duke started 0/5 from the field before Tyrese Proctor made a layup.
After a 1/7 start shooting the ball, the Blue Devils began to find success inside and went on an 11-0 run. Proctor capped the run off with a triple to put Duke in front.
NC State’s Michael O’Connell answered Proctor with a three of his own to restore the Wolfpack lead.
TJ Power drained a three, but DJ Burns kept NC State in the game on the other end. He had nine early points on 4/7 shooting as he found success from midrange and inside.
Burns went to work inside again and tied the game at 22 apiece. He then hit a floater to put NC State up two.
Proctor responded by pulling up from deep as the shot clock expired and buried yet another triple. Burns fired right back with a layup.
Jeremy Roach hit a layup and Proctor hit another three to put Duke up four late. The Blue Devils took a 33-30 lead into the halftime break.
Duke struggled to hit shots in the first half, shooting just 33.3% from the floor (12/36) and 25% from three (4/16). The Blue Devils dominated the rebounding battle, however, and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds that led to 13 second chance points.
Roach hit a pair of layups to open the second half, but Burns also got right back to work inside to keep it close.
Duke’s cold streak from beyond the arc continued as the two sides traded leads midway through the half. The Blue Devils started the second half just 1/7 from deep.
Then, finally, Duke began to pull away. Kyle Filipowski buried a triple and McCain converted a transition layup to cap off a 10-1 Duke run that put them up 55-47.
Roach continued to find success inside and drove to the cup for a layup to put Duke up 11, its largest lead of the game.
Burns (who finished with 27 points) hit a hook shot and Breon Pass knocked down a three to cut the deficit to single digits, but Roach buried a triple to push Duke’s lead back to 10.
McCain later converted that statement four-point play as Duke continued to stretch its lead. The Wolfpack did their best but failed to chip into the deficit as Duke won by double digits.
Duke shot 47.1% (32/68) from the floor and 30% (9/30) from three in the game.
The Blue Devils will close out their season with a rematch against the rival North Carolina Tar Heels in Durham on Saturday.
