Duke Gets ACC Tournament Rubber Match With NC State
Duke now knows its opponent for the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals.
No. 5 NC State beat No. 13 Pittsburgh, coached by former Duke player and assistant Jeff Capel, 73-58, to earn the Blue Devils a rubber match against the Wolfpack.
Duke traveled to NC State in February and lost 88-66 in a blowout that sent the Blue Devils on a late-season spiral where they lost three out of four games. The Blue Devils relied on a zone defense in the rematch at Cameron Indoor Stadium to top the Wolfpack, 88-69.
State has a little more experience in dealing with the zone after Pitt used it for part of Wednesday’s game.
“I told our guys, I figured whether we played Wake Forest or Pitt, there’s an opportunity to play against a zone,” coach Kevin Keatts said.
Pitt beat Wake Forest in Tuesday’s opening round to earn a matchup with State.
“The reason being,” Keatts continued, “in a tournament, when you play the day before, you don’t have time to go over people’s sets. So our anticipation was we’re going to see some zone from everybody we play. In the first half, we were not aggressive toward it. We talked in the second half about continuing to drive. We talked about offensive rebounding, and we did a good job.”
Of course, Keatts knows better than to assume Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will come out with the same game plan.
“I have no idea what they’re going to play tomorrow,” he said.
NC State players were confident heading into a third game with the Blue Devils.
“We have to be focused, energized,” Devon Daniels, who scored 25 against Duke in the first game, said. “Pay attention to the scouting report. Come out with a lot of energy.”
“We beat this team before,” senior CJ Bryce said. “We definitely have the confidence we can do it.”
