Duke will be feeling more than the lingering hangover from freshman guard Gerald Henderson's one-game suspension when it plays without him against N.C. State in the ACC Tournament on Thursday.

The 21st-ranked Blue Devils will miss Henderson's game.

In back-to-back losses to end the ACC season, Henderson scored 15 points against Maryland and 16 points against North Carolina.

Henderson was ejected from the North Carolina game on Sunday after committing a flagrant foul when he struck UNC's Tyler Hansbrough in the face with his forearm while playing defense.

The ejection carries the NCAA's mandatory one-game suspension.

"Obviously you want to be playing and helping your team, but you have to take this for what it's worth," Henderson said.

Henderson helped Duke rebound from a quick 12-2 deficit early in the Blue Devils' 86-72 loss at North Carolina on Sunday.

He came off the bench and scored five of Duke's next six buckets. With Henderson hitting mid-range pull-up jumpers, that freed some space for Duke point guard Greg Paulus, who started popping 3-pointers.

"[Henderson] carried us for awhile today," Duke freshman Jon Scheyer said. "His attitude and his game, I think was his best by far. I was happy to be on the court riding him. He was just feeling it today. It's a real unfortunate thing that happened at the end."

Duke (22-9, 8-8) will play the Wolfpack (15-14, 5-11), which beat Carolina and swept Virginia Tech since Duke beat N.C. State 79-56 on Jan. 20.

State played without senior Engin Atsur in the loss to Duke.

"That was an advantage for us," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "[Atsur] is a good player. [State is] a different team now. We have to adjust accordingly."

The Devils didn't look great on offense for stretches against Carolina. That's not a new thing for the ACC's worst scoring team (69.9 points per game).

But Duke starters Josh McRoberts, DeMarcus Nelson and Scheyer could not get themselves going against Carolina's newly motivated defense.

McRoberts turned the ball over six times before halftime. Nelson (2-for-7) and Scheyer (0-for-3) missed shots and forced shots.

Duke will looking to those same players, and Paulus, who all average more than 11 points per game, for scoring against the Wolfpack.

The Devils haven't been happy with the way they've played defense the past two games. Henderson was another athletic body who could disrupt opposing perimeter players.

"Everyone has to step up a little bit more to cover what he brought to our team," Paulus aid. "Gerald will be OK. He'll be back. He just needs to keep playing the way he's playing."

Krzyzewski worried Monday, first how Henderson's reputation might be damaged by the suspension, but also how to keep it from stalling his progress.

"You deal with it like he had a sprained ankle," Krzyzewski said. "You try to figure out, when you see his game elevating, you hope when he comes back it's still at that level and continues to raise."

After Sunday's game, Henderson said the suspension wouldn't stall his progress in March.