NC State Faces No. 1 Duke at Lenovo Center
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RALEIGH — Before NC State dropped its Saturday matchup against Notre Dame, Wolfpack coach Will Wade joked that just thinking about the Monday tilt against No. 1 Duke was making him "sick." After the disappointing weekend, Wade and his group have their backs to the proverbial wall and will try to give the Blue Devils their best punch in what will likely be a rocking version of the Lenovo Center
There's been some historic success in this exact scenario for NC State, as the program beat Duke when it was ranked No. 1 the last two times the Blue Devils came to Raleigh with that distinction. It's a new era for both programs, with Wade working to bring consistency to the Wolfpack while Jon Scheyer tries to carve out his own legacy and break out of Mike Krzyzewski's shadow.
What the Wolfpack can expect from Duke
As things stand, the Blue Devils are viewed as the top team in the country by the AP Poll and an overwhelming number of the top metric systems. There are no blemishes on Duke's resume, as it carries just one conference loss into the Lenovo Center, which came at the hands of its shared nemesis with the Wolfpack, the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Freshman phenom and likely ACC and National Player of the Year Cameron Boozer leads Duke, completely outclassing the Wolfpack's own Preseason ACC Player of the Year winner Darrion Williams. Boozer averages a whopping 22.5 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists per game, operating with the ball in his hands 29.5% of the time. Stopping him will be nearly impossible for NC State, which has been the case for nearly every opponent of Duke's in the 2025-26 season.
An experienced and physical backcourt figures to cause problems for NC State, with junior Caleb Foster and sophomore Isaiah Evans filling those spots for Duke. If the 3-point shots are falling for Evans, it will be a long night for NC State. If not, there's a window of opportunity to keep up with the Blue Devils from a shot-making standpoint.
Duke's one weakness is a somewhat streaky offense, particularly when Boozer is cold or on the bench. The Blue Devils are shooting just 35.6% from 3-point range in ACC play, but they make up for it with stellar defense, holding opponents to a 32.5% clip beyond the arc. In terms of adjusted defensive efficiency, Duke is at the very top of the league and the country, with an 88.5 score.
What can the Wolfpack do against Duke?
From a basketball standpoint, the solutions available against Duke are few and far between. Wade might be forced to embrace his team's identity, despite the fact that it bugs him greatly, if it wants to beat the Blue Devils; NC State must be a jump-shooting team. There won't be tremendous room for success inside with bigs like Boozer and Patrick Ngongba roaming the paint, so the threes need to fall early and often.
NC State comes into the matchup shooting 38.2% from 3-point range in ACC play, but struggled mightily down the stretch against Notre Dame when the Fighting Irish slid into a 2-3 zone. Scheyer's been known to tinker defensively and could utilize that approach against the Wolfpack if the shots fall early. In that case, it falls on savvy point guard Quadir Copeland to take over and pick apart the zone just as he did against Syracuse earlier in the season.
Copeland might be the key in a non-basketball aspect of Monday's rivalry matchup. There is a quote from the film Gladiator (2000), in which a character tells the titular gladiator he must "win the crowd," and success will follow. Copeland, the Wolfpack's very own showman and a fierce gladiator of the hardwood, needs to help his team sway the Lenovo Center crowd into being a sixth man for the team as quickly as possible.
It will take a monumental effort from one of the most inconsistent teams in the ACC to even have a shot against Duke. But that's the thing about inconsistency; You never know what might happen.
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Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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