Preview: #11 Duke Blue Devils (24-7, 15-5 ACC) vs. NC State Wolfpack (19-14, 9-11 ACC)
ACC Tournament Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 14 • 7:00 p.m. ET
Capital One Arena (20,000) • Washington, D.C.
The number 2 seed Duke Blue Devils (24-7, 15-5 ACC) face the number 10 seed NC State Wolfpack (19-14, 9-11 ACC) in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
Series & Game Info
Series
Overall Duke leads, 152-103
In Durham, NC Duke leads, 67-30
at Cameron Indoor Stadium Duke leads, 54-26
In Raleigh, NC Duke leads, 49-44
at PNC Arena Duke leads, 10-8
Neutral Sites Duke leads, 23-17
Last Meeting Duke 79, @NC State 64 (March 4, 2024)
Game Info
TV/Video Stream ESPN
Play-by-Play Dave O’Brien
Analyst Cory Alexander
Sideline Angel Gray
Producer Kim Belton
Director Michael Griffin
Radio Blue Devil Sports Net.
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
In Durham 96.5 FM & 620 AM
Varsity Network App
The Teams
NC State Wolfpack
The Wolfpack enter the quarterfinals after beating Louisville in their first game 94-85 and Syracuse in their second game 83-65. Star guard DJ Horne didn’t dress for either game for the Wolfpack. NC State is second in the ACC and ranks 44th in the nation in fast break points with an average of 13.0 per game. The Wolfpack are positioned third in the conference and 15th nationally in fewest turnovers at 9.6 per contest, as well as third in the league with 7.5 steals per game.
The Wolfpack boast 4 players who score in double-figures beginning with All-ACC Third Team guard DJ Horne who is connecting on 42.8% of his 3-point shots, best in the league and 12th nationally, and is the league’s ninth-leading scorer (16.8 ppg). Horne’s status for tonights game is still unknown. Jayden Taylor, the second leading scorer for the Wolfpack took over starting duties for Horne in the last 2 games and is averaging 12.7 points per game on the season. DJ Burns and Casey Morsell round out the double-figure scorers at 12.1 and 11.6 respectively. Mohamed Diarra is States leading rebounder at 6.8 per contest. Michael O’Connell leads the team in assists at 3 per game.
Duke Blue Devils
Duke is the only team to rank among the top four ACC statistical leaders in both scoring offense (2nd/80.2 points per game) and scoring defense (3rd/67.2 points allowed per game). The Blue Devils lead the ACC in scoring margin (+13.0), field goal percentage (.483), 3-point field goal percentage (.381) and assists (15.4 per game).
Kyle Filipowski ranks ninth in scoring (16.7 ppg), seventh in rebounding (8.0 rpg), third in blocked shots (1.6 bpg) and sixth in field goal percentage (.504) in the ACC to lead the Blue Devils. Jeremy Roach has scored 20-plus points four times this season and 12 times during his career, including a team-high 21 points in Duke’s March 4 win at NC State – the senior guard is averaging 14.3 points per game. Tyrese Proctor, who has played all 40 minutes in each of the last two games, ranks second in ACC in assist/turnover ratio (2.70), and has 27 assists with just nine turnovers in his last six games the Aussie is averaging 10.6 points per game to go along with his team high 3.7 assists. Jared McCain ranked third on the team in scoring at 13.6 points per game and is shooting 40% from behind the arc on the season. Mark Mitchell checks in at 12.1 points per game and 6.1 rebounds.
Stats Comparison
| G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 31 | 40.0 | 28.5 | 59.1 | .483 | 20.1 | 36.9 | .545 | 8.5 | 22.2 | .381 | 14.6 | 20.2 | .725 | 10.5 | 26.0 | 36.5 | 15.4 | 6.5 | 3.7 | 9.7 | 15.7 | 80.2 |
| NC State | 33 | 40.3 | 27.3 | 61.3 | .446 | 20.1 | 40.5 | .497 | 7.2 | 20.8 | .347 | 14.4 | 19.7 | .733 | 10.7 | 24.2 | 34.9 | 12.9 | 7.5 | 3.3 | 9.6 | 16.5 | 76.3 |
Stats Comparison Conference
| G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 20 | 40.0 | 27.7 | 58.6 | .473 | 19.0 | 36.0 | .529 | 8.7 | 22.6 | .385 | 13.6 | 19.2 | .710 | 9.4 | 24.4 | 33.7 | 14.4 | 6.3 | 3.7 | 9.8 | 15.7 | 77.7 |
| NC State | 20 | 40.5 | 26.3 | 60.5 | .434 | 19.5 | 41.1 | .474 | 6.8 | 19.4 | .348 | 14.1 | 18.7 | .756 | 9.2 | 23.4 | 32.5 | 11.8 | 6.7 | 3.6 | 9.6 | 17.1 | 73.4 |
Projected Lineup
Duke Blue Devils
G Jeremy Roach 6’2, 180lbs SR
G Jared McCain 6’3, 197lbs FR
G Tyrese Proctor 6’5, 183lbs SO
F Mark Mitchell 6’9, 232lbs SO
C Kyle Filipowski 7’0, 248lbs SO
NC State Wolfpack
G Michael O’Connell 6’2, 195lbs GR
G Casey Morsell 6’3, 200lbs GR
G Jayden Taylor 6’4, 195lbs JR
F DJ Burns Jr. 6’9, 275lbs GR
F Mohamed Diarra 6’10, 215lbs JR
Thoughts
While it’s not been the best of seasons for Kevin Keatts his Wolfpack team does possess a lot of talent and a lot of experience. Now with 2 victories in the ACC Tournament the path to an NCAA bid is at stake in every game they play. Duke will have to strike that delicate balance of not giving up 3’s and still finding a way to protect the paint against NC State’s bigs – something they failed to do against UNC in their last game.
DJ Burns is a force inside for the Pack but is prone to getting in foul trouble on the defensive end. Duke will not be able to muscle the big man out of the paint so Jon Scheyer and crew will have to figure out a way to stop Burns that does not give NC State open looks from 3. Even if DJ Horne does not play the Wolfpack have a more than capable offense scoring 94 and 83 points in their first two games is evidence of that fact.
Offensively, the Blue Devils have to avoid turnovers – if the Wolfpack is going to beat you, do not let them beat you because you beat yourselves is a message the Blue Devils need to embrace.
Tournament Facts
- Duke has been the ACC Tournament’s winningest team all-time with conference records for wins (110), winning percentage (.705) and titles (22) in the tournament.
- Duke is 4-1 all-time in ACC Tournament games in Washington, D.C., where the Blue Devils captured the 2005 crown.
- Duke reached the championship game last season for the 35th time and won its 22nd title.
- Duke’s five straight titles (1999 to 2003) and its nine consecutive title game appearances (1998 to 2006) are each ACC records.
- Duke’s 21 Tournament MVP winners are the most in league history.
- The Blue Devils have won three of the last six ACC Tournaments that have been completed, becoming the first team to win four games in four days to capture the 2017 crown in Brooklyn, winning in 2019 in Charlotte and earning last season’s title in Greensboro.
- Duke has won 55 of its last 66 ACC Tournament games.
- Since 2017 (with 2020 and 2021 impacted by COVID-19), the Blue Devils own an ACC Tournament record of 15-2 with three championship titles (2017, 2019, 2023).
- In eight career ACC Tournament games, senior guard Jeremy Roach has collected 99 points, including a game-high 23 points in the 2023 title contest, for an average of 12.4 points per outing.
- Roach drained five triples in the 2022 quarterfinals against Syracuse to tie for fourth on Duke’s single-game records in the ACC Tournament.
- During the 2023 ACC Tournament, Kyle Filipowski averaged 19.7 points per game, shooting 24-of-36 from the field and recording a pair of double-doubles to claim Tournament MVP honors as a freshman. His current .667 field goal percentage is tied for fourth on Duke’s ACC Tournament career records list, needing one more field goal to meet the minimum qualification. Current ESPN analyst Jay Bilas holds the Duke record at 69.0% (29-of-42 from 1983-86).
- Filipowski made 8-of-9 from the floor to rank fifth on Duke’s single-game ACC Tournament records at 88.9% field goal shooting.
- Tyrese Proctor‘s 10 assists against Pittsburgh in the 2023 quarterfinals is tied for fifth on Duke’s single-game records in the ACC Tournament.
- Jon Scheyer is one of 16 ACC Tournament Most Valuable Players who did not receive All-ACC honors that year. Scheyer’s MVP performance helped lead the Blue Devils to the 2009 crown, as he scored 22 points in the semifinals and 29 points in the championship game. Scheyer garnered All-ACC First Team recognition the following season in 2009-10.
- The No. 2 seed has captured the ACC Tournament title 13 times, including Duke championships in 2011, 2002, 2001 and 1978.
- Duke’s all-time ACC Tournament record as the No. 2 seed is 29-13 (.690), including a quarterfinals record of 16-1 (.941).
