Duke and Florida State are potential NCAA tournament play-in games for NC State
The NCAA tournament starts in four weeks. If N.C. State wants to get back there, it’s play-in rounds start this week.
The Wolfpack (16-9, 7-7 ACC), coming off of a 71-68 loss at Boston College on Sunday, gets a shot at Duke on Wednesday at home and Florida State at home Saturday. N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts knows the value a win over the Blue Devils, No. 6 in the NET, would carry with the NCAA tournament selection committee. Keatts’ team gets two chances to pick up a “Quadrant 1” win this week and three over the next five games.
“We talk about it’s important, this Duke game, because it’s the next game but it’s also a great opportunity for us to get a signature win for our resume,” Keatts said.
“We’ve got a couple of good nonconference wins and a very good win against (Virginia) on the road but the two games this week can certainly help our resume.”
N.C. State entered Tuesday with a 3-2 record in Q1 games with three more chances at what the NCAA considers the highest quality wins.
“We understand the opportunity that we have,” senior guard C.J. Bryce said.
Duke had to replace two All-ACC players and three lottery picks from last year’s team. With a retooled lineup, and without a superstar like Zion Williamson, the Blue Devils (22-3, 12-2) are in first place in the ACC and control their own fate in the conference race.
Keatts will get a first-hand look at the Blue Devils on Wednesday. The third-year Wolfpack coach thinks this version of Duke might be better than the last.
“I think it’s a better overall team than the individual guys that they had last year,” Keatts said. “That makes it tough because they are starting to play well together.”
With sophomore point guard Tre Jones (ACC-best 6.6 assists per game) and freshman big Vernon Carey (17.6 points per game), hall-of-fame coach Mike Krzyzewski has been able to reload without an elite NBA prospect the caliber of Williamson or R.J. Barrett.
The two-game home set comes after the Wolfpack went 2-1 in its past three ACC games, all on the road. N.C. State is 3-3 in ACC home games this season. It has won four of the past six games against Duke at PNC Arena. Keatts’ first team beat the Devils 96-85 in Jan. 2018.
Williamson led Duke to a 94-78 win at Cameron Indoor Stadium last February. Duke has a chance to close out its first regular-season ACC title since 2010. Williamson’s knee injury derailed last year’s team down the stretch.
Duke leads Louisville (12-3) by a game in the loss column but the Cardinals own the tiebreaker. Duke is 6-1 on the road in ACC play this season with its lone loss coming at Clemson on Jan. 14. The Blue Devils’ point differential in ACC games is significantly lower on the road (plus-9.7) than it is at Cameron (plus-20.7).
Duke at NC State
When: 9 p.m. Wednesday
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh
Watch: ESPN
Listen: WRAL-101.5 Triangle | WXRC-95.7 Charlotte
NC State (16-9, 7-7 ACC)
G Markell Johnson 12.6 ppg, 6.5 apg
G C.J. Bryce 14.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg
G Devon Daniels 12.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg
F D.J. Funderburk 12.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg
F Manny Bates 5.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg
Duke (22-3, 12-2 ACC)
G Tre Jones 15.8 ppg, 6.6 apg
G Jordan Goldwire 4.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg
G Cassius Stanley 12.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg
G Wendell Moore 7.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg
F Vernon Carey 17.6 ppg, 8.7 rpg
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 4:25 PM.
