February
15, 2004.
RBC Center, Raleigh, NC
Box Score | Photos
The bottom line of the Duke-NC State game was that
Duke did just about everything wrong and still somehow had a chance to win. State is really running their system well right
now and they are almost impossible to beat at home. It
would have taken an outstanding effort from Duke to knock them off, and they just didn't
get that. The first problem was Duke's post
play. Shelden Williams was in foul trouble
for much of the game and had trouble chasing around Marcus Melvin, who took him outside. When that wasn't happening, Ilian Evtimov was
dusting off a George Mikan hook in the lane that Shelden couldn't block. Williams was taken aback by Evtimov's ability to
attack off the dribble, stop and hit that shot.
State
did a great job of preventing Duke from getting good looks at the basket by playing the
passing lanes and stopping good entry passes into the posts. That allowed Duke to drive to the basket more, but
they simply couldn't put down open shots that were only partially contested. In the first half, Duke was an astonishing 6-21
from two! No one could finish, and it helped
the Pack seize a 10 point lead. Also in the
post, State dominated Duke on the boards 35-27 despite a considerable height disadvangae. Melvin had 11 and Evtimov 7, while Williams had 7.
In the second half, Duke shot the lights out
but killed themselves with 10 turnovers, while the Pack only coughed it up 3 times in the
half. Those turnovers prevented Duke from tying or taking the lead on several occasions. Interestingly, State did not decide to bomb away
as they usually do, preferring inside to attack Duke off the dribble and backdoor Duke's
overplays. That also prevented long rebounds
from going Duke's way. NC State did hit 6 of
their 12 attempts, however, with Melvin hitting 3 of 4.
Their leader, Julius Hodge, was much more conservative than in the first
meeting with Duke, picking his spots of when to attack and rarely forcing things.
The Wolfpack got off to a 7-0 lead, but Duke
surged ahead 14-13 on a Chris Duhon three. Williams
had scored twice inside and had several early rebounds, but wouldn't score again. The two teams traded leads for a bit, but the Pack
sank some big threes to go up 29-18. Redick
was being held in check, hitting only 2-6 until the end of the half. Deng was completely ineffective, missing all 4 of
his shots (3 of them threes). The Pack took a
36-23 lead with seconds to go in the half, but Duhon found Redick for a long three that
made it a 10 point game and gave Duke some life.
Duke quickly took advantage with a 12-4 run
that saw Redick and Duhon hit 3 threes, with Chris sinking the last two from Reynolds
Coliseum. Duke had 2 cracks at tying the score, but missed one shot and turned the ball
over on the other possession. NC State
quickly reestablished dominance, going up 48-40 with under twelve minutes to go. Duhon was heroic, driving for one score and
finding Ewing & Redick for threes, but Duke simply couldn't stop the Pack's efficient
offense. Finally, Duke got a couple of stops
and Ewing made it a 57-54 game with seven minutes left. State scored and Randolph missed a
stickback. Deng fouled Hodge on the rebound,
sending him to the foul line. State again had
a 7 point lead with under seven minutes left.
Back came Duke, with Redick driving and
Ewing getting 2 free throws. Three turnovers, 2 missed threes and a missed front end
opportunity on a free throw made it 65-58 with a bit over three minutes to go. State's the best foul shooting team in the
conference, so Duke's chances were slim. A
Deng three and free throw suddenly cut it to 66-62 with two minutes left. Duke got a stop
but Deng missed from in close and then sent Evtimov to the foul line. After Ewing missed a three and State went up
70-62, it looked to be all over. Not quite,
though. Ewing was fouled and hit 2. After 2 State freebies, JJ was fouled and hit
both. State hit 2 more, but Redick nailed a
hotly contested three from 30'. State hit 2
more, but Redick was then inexplicably fouled taking a three. He hit all three, and it was suddenly 76-72 with
15 seconds left. Duke got a steal and quickly
scored to cut it to 2, but fouled Hodge with 7 seconds left. He made both, and that was the ballgame.
Redick
had an incredibly 28 points, 19 in the second half. Duhon
had 17 and Deng had all 10 of his in the second half.
If it was for several key turnovers late in the half, Duke could have been
right there with the Pack, whose shooting cooled off from an absurd 61% in the first half
to a more reasonable 44%. Duke shot 53% in
the second half as they almost entirely abandoned the post game in trying to scratch and
claw their way back. It's difficult to make
State play your game because of how deliberate their offense is, and Duke succumbed to
going small because they were behind. Balance
has been Duke's greatest asset this year, and it was clear that State took that away from
them.
I had this pegged as Duke's toughest game
remaining, considering how well they'd been playing and how tough they were at home. Still, Duke has plenty of tough games left, and
the road trips to Wake & FSU won't be picnics. The
post players need to regroup and come out ready to make a big impact, because they'll be
sorely needed against a Wake squad that regained a lot of confidence in beating
Cincinnati. The team as a whole must recommit
to playing swarming defense and attacking the boards.
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