Top Ten of 2019-20: Down Go the Devils
The 2019-20 athletic schedule was cut short by the coronavirus crisis that forced the cancellation of the NCAA basketball and wrestling tournaments, as well as most of the spring season.
But despite those disappointments, there were still plenty of memorable moments and achievements to celebrate.
As the academic year officially comes to a close, SI All Wolfpack look backs at the NC State's 10 best athletic performances of 2019-20. Today, it's No. 3: The Wolfpack's men's basketball rout of Duke.
The NC State basketball team was in need of a signature victory to solidify its spot on the NCAA tournament bubble when Duke came to PNC Arena on Feb. 19.
The Wolfpack didn't just get the win that night. It completely dominated the nation's sixth-ranked team, thrusting itself back into the postseason conversation with emphasis behind career-high scoring performances from Markell Johnson and Devon Daniels.
It was an 88-66 victory that was stunning only because of the ease with which coach Kevin Keatts' team manhandled the Blue Devils. The win itself and the celebratory court rush that followed are actually become quite routine.
That's because State (17-9, 8-7 ACC) has now beaten a top-10 ranked Duke six of the last eight times coach Mike Krzyzewski has brought his team to play at PNC -- including both times in which Keatts has been on the other bench.
So how did the Wolfpack pull it off?
For one thing, it played with the kind of urgency it had often lacked up to that point in the season -- especially in its previous game, a loss at Boston College. State asserted itself right from the jump, attacking the basket instead of settling for three-pointers, defending and hitting the glass as aggressively as it has all season.
Another reason was the play of "Good Markell."
Johnson, who had been hot and cold all season, was coming off a miserable performance in Chestnut Hill in which he was limited to only 17 minutes because of lackasical play and foul trouble.
The senior point guard hit a pair of three-pointers late in the first half in the half to open up a double-digit lead, then punctuated that performance by banking in a halfcourt heave just before the halftime buzzer. It was his third such halfcourt basket of the season.
Johnson was even better in the second, finishing with a career-high 28 points to go along with nine rebounds, four assists and two steals with only one turnover.
State outrebounded Duke by a 51-43 margin with four players picking up at least nine rebounds -- C.J. Bryce with 10, Johnson, Daniels and D.J. Funderburk with nine each.
The Wolfpack weathered the inevitable Blue Devil rally with an 11-2 that extended its lead to 27 points before Keatts sent in walkons Chase Graham and Max Farthing to finish things up and enjoy what is rapidly becoming a traditional post-Duke court rush.
NC State Top 10 of 2019-20
10. Women's basketball team sets NCAA record by making 13 straight three-pointers
9. Tziarra King's overtime ACC tournament winner against Louisville
8. Men's tennis upset of defending national champion Texas
7. Nick Swinney's masterful one-hitter in Minnesota
6. Elly Henes' ACC cross country championship
5. Men's swimming and diving wins its sixth straight ACC title
4. Dramatic wrestling win against UNC
3, Men's basketball upset of Duke
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