Tag: NC State Wolfpack

Duke and their Tobacco Road counterparts lead the way as ACC lands five teams in the tournament

Duke and the rest of the ACC ready to roll in NCAA Tournament.

Duke was never in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament, but in the last two weeks, they had the chance to solidify themselves as a No. 2 seed.

That didn’t come to fruition, however, as Duke lost to their rivals, UNC, on senior night and then to NC State in the quarterfinals of the 2024 ACC Tournament.

Those two teams met Saturday night in the ACC Championship game, and NC State pulled off an improbable win to cap off one of the most incredible ACC Tournament runs in the league’s illustrious history. They won five games in five days to punch an automatic ticket to the Big Dance.

All of the Tobacco Road schools are going dancing. UNC is the fourth No. 1 seed in the West region, while Duke is the fourth seed in the South region. NC State is an 11-seed in the South region with Duke.

Clemson and UVA made five teams for the ACC in this year’s tournament.

The ACC was unusually weak this year, with Louisville and Syracuse unable to live up to their usual standards. For stretches of the season, it looked like Duke and UNC were the only locks to make the tournament. Yet, when the dust settled, the ACC still found a way to produce five teams.

The ACC has had at least one team reach the Elite Eight in 34 of 38 tournaments and at least one Final Four team in 26 of 38 tournaments.

We will see which of this year’s ACC participants makes the most significant run.

4 bid thieves force bubble teams to sweat before Selection Sunday reveal

Four college basketball programs stole bids for the 2024 NCAA Tournament by winning their conference championships ahead of Selection Sunday.

A college basketball season full of parity and upsets culminated in an insane final few days of conference tournament championships – with a pair of Power-6 conferences being won by teams not expected to earn at-large bids in the NCAA Tournament.

First it was the Wolfpack of NC State, who became the second program ever to win five straight games in five days to win a conference championship, starting as the 10 seed in the ACC and mowing down five teams that all won a national championship this past decade in Louisville, Syracuse, Duke, Virginia, and North Carolina.

Then the Oregon Ducks knocked off Washington State in the final Pac-12 championship, resulting in Dana Altman’s team taking a bid.

Additionally, a pair of mid-major conferences had potential bid thieves as well. The AAC championship will be between UAB and Temple, while FAU could still earn an at-large bid despite losing in the semifinals. And finally the Atlantic 10 conference had a wild weekend where each of the top four seeds were upset on the same day, resulting in a championship battle between Duquesne and VCU, while a ranked Dayton team will likely earn an at-large bid giving the conference two teams in the big dance.

All this bid thievery is bad news for teams who were on the right side of the bubble, and is a likely death sentence for the teams who were borderline. Fans of Indiana State, Seton Hall, Providence, St. John’s, Texas A&M, and Colorado will be extra sweaty for the next few hours until the bracket is revealed starting at 6:00 PM ET.

Duke’s loss to NC State emblematic of this season’s core issues with NCAA Tournament on horizon

Duke’s loss to NC State is more of the same from Duke this year. Is there enough time to fix the issues that have plagued the Blue Devils?

Thursday night was a rough pill for the Duke basketball program fans to swallow.

The Blue Devils were a trendy pick to make the ACC Tournament final at the very least and potentially set up a third matchup with their rivals, the UNC Tar Heels. What happened was a bit more shocking as NC State, a team playing its third game in as many days, was able to oust Duke from the tournament in the quarterfinals with a 74-69 win.

Losing hurts, but this most recent loss had a familiar stench. The Blue Devils started slow, played lackadaisical defense, and didn’t get the 50/50 balls to win the game. Duke’s trio of starting guards went a combined 7/28, which will not cut it in March.

If Duke’s loss felt familiar, it’s because it was. In their losses this year, they’ve showcased the same things that ailed them last night. Physically, the defensive effort and energy seemed to be lacking.

Last night was no different. State played physical defense, and Duke often had many drives to the basket that ended in missed opportunities because the Blue Devils anticipated fouls or hoped to be fouled.

On defense, Duke was slow to cut off drives, and in transition, there was a considerable lack of effort as guys half-heartedly got back and barely attempted to stop the ball. Duke was beaten to the ball for rebounds despite having multiple players in the area.

In the previous game against UNC, Duke came out flat and could never recover as UNC raced out to a 15-4 lead on Senior Night. Effort, energy, and defensive pride plagued Jon Scheyer’s team then.

That brings us to this question: Is it a player or coaching issue?

The truth is it lies somewhere in the middle. Jon Scheyer is a competitive guy, but he’s not the fiery coach that his predecessor was. At least, not yet. However, this year, his team has lacked the edge to fight back in a game like last night’s ACC quarterfinal loss. Against a desperate team fighting for its season, Duke needed to come out and bury them early. They came out slow, and then NC State gained confidence. Duke weathered the storm and took a late first-half lead, but it was short-lived.

Even though Duke went into the half down three, NC State came right back out and went on an 8-0 run before the under-16 media timeout. This Blue Devils team never finds that extra gear in games when they need it. There is no outright vocal leader on the court for Duke, and it shows. As far as we can see, there’s no one to galvanize the troops amongst the players.

How does Duke prepare for this year’s NCAA Tournament? They need to figure some things out, that’s for sure. Maybe it’s from the player-led meeting that was supposed to occur when Duke returned to Durham after the ACC Tournament to help clear the air. However, having meetings like that on March 15th, a week before the season’s biggest games, is eyebrow-raising. Where was the urgency for the meeting following their second straight loss to their biggest rival?

Scheyer is not without faults, either. He and his staff don’t have the most complete roster. Losing Dereck Lively and never finding a better option to play center via the portal is something he and his staff have to live with now. The lack of another functional big man to spell Kyle Filipowski and take pressure off of him defensively has impacted Duke’s defense and rebounding, too.

However, with the right draw and more effort from the guys in the locker room, Duke can beat many teams in the country in this upcoming NCAA Tournament. Will they? We’ll find out starting sometime next week.

Duke now top ACC team at No. 6 in latest D1Baseball poll, the highest rank in school history

Duke ascends to No. 6 in latest D1Baseball poll after a series victory over top-ranked Wake Forest, the highest ranking in program history.

Duke’s series win over the then-No. 1 Wake Forest Demon Deacons sent some pretty sizable ripples through the rest of the collegiate baseball landscape.

The series win vindicated Duke as a team that everyone should be cognizant of going forward, and it also sent a message to the rest of the ACC that things will not be a breeze for Wake Forest to just coast to a regular-season title.

Duke made the trip from Durham, NC, to Winston-Salem this past weekend and took two of three from the previously top-ranked Demon Deacons. That win had a massive effect on the latest D1Baseball poll.

Duke is now the highest-ranked ACC team in the country, having leaped from 12th to 6th, which marks the highest ranking in program history by D1Baseball.

Duke had a 3-1 week in total, which started with a 28-2 dismantling of the Appalachian State Mountaineers in the middle of the week before they made their trip to take on Wake Forest to open ACC play.

Arkansas is now the No. 1-ranked team in the country. Wake Forest dropped six spots to seventh.

Elsewhere in the ACC, Clemson remains steady at 10th after another undefeated week of action. NC State moved up one spot to No. 13 in the newest poll. UNC also moved up one place, going from 16th to 15th. Virginia suffered two losses to the Miami Hurricanes last week and fell four spots from 13th to 17th.

In their latest rankings, Baseball America ranked Duke No. 3, and Perfect Game ranked the Blue Devils No. 5.

The Blue Devils will continue its journey to ascend into the top five with two midweek games against Rider starting Tuesday. They follow that up with another top-10 matchup as Clemson gets set to come to town to start a three-game set on Friday.

The man in the mirror is the final hurdle Duke must clear as they prepare for rematch with UNC

The Duke Blue Devils have to win against themselves in order to win against UNC.

Sir Edmund Hillary said it best: “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”

It feels like the perfect quote to summarise the Duke basketball experience this year and focus on what’s ahead of the team as they prepare to try and get revenge for an early February loss to their rivals, UNC. The Blue Devils have been fighting the team in the mirror all season. It’s time they conquer that.

If they can, the Blue Devils will head to Washington, D.C., for the ACC Tournament, with their share of the 2023-2024 ACC regular season title; if the Tar Heels win, they are the outright title winners. Losing that also likely eliminates Duke from having any shot at a 2-seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

For Duke, it’s simple: UNC is the best opponent (not named Arizona or Baylor) on their schedule. They beat Baylor in Madison Square Garden, which stands out as a great Quad 1 win, but the Blue Devils know they need more. Hubert Davis’ team is undoubtedly in the Final Four-capable tier of teams, so a win against North Carolina would be the perfect confirmation that this Duke team has grown and evolved and is playing its best basketball.

It’s easier said than done, as UNC will have everything to play for on top of the sheer fact that this is a rivalry, and it could be Armando Bacot and RJ Davis’ last game against Duke ever. They’ve ruined big nights in Cameron Indoor Stadium before.

Duke played a rough basketball game against UNC in the first round in Chapel Hill. They were not strong on the court, and their defensive plan wasn’t strong. Ultimately, the Heels just played better.

Duke shot 26.3% from three, compared to almost 38% from UNC. Harrison Ingram was the thorn in Duke’s side from the outside, going 5/9 from deep. Duke also had 11 turnovers, which led to 19 UNC points. Eight of those turnovers were live-ball, which makes it even harder to get back on defense against a transition offense-focused team like UNC.

Kyle Filipowski struggled with foul trouble, and when his team needed him to contain Armando Bacot without a double team, he couldn’t. Tyrese Proctor had one of his worst games, registering just two points and one assist on 1/6 shooting in 26 minutes.

So, what has to change this time around? Duke has to put together a complete performance as they have in games on the road at Miami, NC State, Virginia Tech, or as they did recently at home versus Virginia. This team has shown that it can play a full 40 minutes on both ends of the court, and when they can, they will blow teams away, as eight of their conference wins have been by 15 points or more.

Duke is a deeper team now. The bench has lengthened a much-needed development due to limitations with guys like Jaylen Blakes and Ryan Young. They are decent role players but certainly guys with deficiencies. The answers were the 6-foot-9 five-star freshman Sean Stewart and the 6-foot-8 four-star small forward TJ Power.

Power’s shooting ability is among the best on a team of great shooters this season, but the lack of opportunities hasn’t allowed him to showcase that. Stewart is hyper-athletic and an incredible shot disruptor combined with pure energy and hustle, allowing him to provide the energy on 50/50 plays Duke needs.

Each player has played at least 10 minutes in the last three games. Stewart had a season-high 26 minutes of game action at NC State, where he had his proverbial breakout game, scoring 12 points, five rebounds, three blocks, two steals, and two assists. He was a menace on defense, and four rebounds came on the offensive glass, giving Duke extra possessions.

They must be factors in this rematch, and the rest of the team needs to be more assertive with the ball. If Duke hadn’t been forced into so many live-ball turnovers, they could’ve shaved off at least six points they allowed. Tyrese Proctor must play better, especially considering Caleb Foster will still be out. He’s had some encouraging performances since being inserted back into the starting lineup with Foster out, and Monday night in Raleigh showcased that.

Kyle Filipowski needs to be a factor for the entire 40 minutes. Jon Scheyer must find a better way to defend Bacot while not allowing RJ Davis to explode. Do not respect Elliot Cadeau’s shot. Make him shoot more jumpers than layups, and respect Ingram as a solid spot-up shooter.

It won’t be easy, but Duke can beat UNC. Aside from the implications mentioned above about the ACC title, this win is about Duke playing well enough to beat an elite opponent as it pursues a sixth NCAA title in two weeks.

They missed the mark early against Arizona and in Chapel Hill. In both games, Duke was the loser, but there was a clear sense that Duke didn’t play well enough to beat that caliber of team. Can they conquer themselves and raise their level of play to conquer their goals? We’ll find out on Saturday.

The five biggest takeaways from Duke’s 79-64 win over NC State

Duke weathered some rough opening minutes and an off shooting night to beat the Wolfpack by 15 on Monday. Here are our most important thoughts on the game.

The Wolfpack scored the first nine points of the game on Monday, but Duke battled back to still win by 15 points by the time the clock hit triple zeros.

The win, led by 21 points from senior Jeremy Roach, set up a dramatic showdown in Cameron this coming weekend. The Blue Devils host North Carolina in the regular-season finale on Saturday, and no matter what happens in UNC’s Tuesday game against Notre Dame, Duke can clinch at least a share of the ACC regular-season title with a rivalry win.

Before any members of Duke faithful get too far ahead of themselves, however, there is still a game to analyze. Here are our biggest takeaways from Monday’s 79-64 victory over NC State.

The best photos from Duke’s road win over NC State

Duke survived a brutal opening few minutes and an off night from beyond the arc to put away their in-state foes on Monday. Here are the best photos from the NC State win.

Duke probably wished it could have the first three minutes back on Monday night, but the Blue Devils were probably fine with the following 37.

NC State jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead after forward DJ Burns Jr. kept carving his way to the basket. However, the Blue Devils quickly shook off the issues to charge back for a 79-64 victory.

Duke even managed the impressive comeback with an off night from distance as it combined to shoot just 9/30 from beyond the arc as a team. Despite the accuracy issues, however, four Duke players reached double-digit points for the day, including a team-high 21 from Jeremy Roach.

Here are the best photos from the weekday victory.

Duke pulls away late in road win against NC State

The Duke Blue Devils took down the NC State Wolfpack in their final road game of the regular season.

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.

Duke slides up one spot to 9th in latest AP Poll ahead of final week of regular season

Duke moves up to ninth in penultimate regular season Associated Press poll.

It is officially March, and we are less than two weeks away from Selection Sunday. Jon Scheyer’s team is playing some of their best basketball of the season, and they look like a team starting to find itself at the perfect time. They enter Monday in second place in the ACC with a week ahead of them that features two games against two of their fiercest ACC rivals, NC State and UNC.

Duke will enter their Monday night matchup on the road against NC State as the 9th-ranked team in the country after they moved up one spot in the latest and penultimate AP poll of the 2023-2024 regular season.

Houston survived a valiant upset bid from Oklahoma on Saturday in head coach Kelvin Sampson’s return to Norman thanks to the late-game heroics of soon-to-be All-American guard Jamal Shead. The Cougars won 87-85. UCONN moved to number two as they secured the Big East regular season title, while Purdue slid one spot to third in the latest poll. Tennessee remained in contention for a number-one seed after they dispatched an electric Alabama team on Saturday in Alabama.

With Marquette’s loss to Creighton, the Golden Eagles fell to 8th, allowing Arizona, Iowa State, and the Tar Heels to take over the fifth, sixth, and seventh spots, respectively. With Duke at nine, Creighton rounds out the top ten after they moved up 12 spots.

Duke and UNC remain the lone ACC teams in the top 25, while none of the other ACC teams are even receiving votes. If Duke takes down NC State and beats North Carolina at home, the Blue Devils will earn at least a share of the ACC regular season title and should put themselves firmly in contention for a two-seed with a great showing in the ACC Tournament.

After series win over Akron, Duke remains steady at No.12 in D1Baseball Top 25

Duke remains at No. 12 in D1Baseball ahead of week that features five games. Three of those games are against top ranked Wake Forest.

Despite losing its first game this past weekend, Chris Pollard’s baseball team is a crisp 10-1 and remains the no. 12 team in the latest D1Baseball poll released Monday morning.

D1Baseball released its top 25 this week, with no movement at the top as every team in the top 14 remained the same from last week’s poll. There are still six ACC schools in. the top 25, with Wake Forest pacing the country at number one. Clemson is still the 10th-ranked team in the country after they went 3-0 last week with two big wins over their biggest rivals, the South Carolina Gamecocks. Much like Duke, Virginia suffered its first loss last week, yet they remain at 13. NC State went an impressive 5-0 and remains steady at 14. The Tarheels of North Carolina were the only ACC team to slide as they fell one spot to 17th despite going 5-0 last week themselves.

Duke has two mid-week games this week against Appalachian State and Georgetown before the Blue Devils make their first proper road trip this upcoming weekend to Winston-Salem to take on the top-ranked Demon Deacons to kickstart off conference play.

Duke was 1-2 in their home series versus Wake Forest last year, with both losses to Wake Forest being by two runs apiece, sandwiched between an 8-1 win.