Jeremy Roach scored 20 points and Duke withstood shaky stretches to turn away North Carolina State for a 71-67 victory in its home finale Tuesday night in Durham, N.C.
Mark Mitchell and Tyrese Proctor both provided 12 points, Kyle Filipowski had 11 points and 14 rebounds and the Blue Devils pulled away in the final minutes in a game often defined by rough play and tense moments.
Duke (22-8, 13-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) avenged a 24-point road loss from early January. The Blue Devils committed 10 turnovers in the rematch after they were guilty of 21 giveaways in the first meeting.
Duke will go into a rematch with North Carolina on Saturday night riding a five-game winning streak.
Jarkel Joiner’s 26 points, D.J. Burns’ 13 points and Jack Clark’s 13 points off the bench paced NC State (22-9, 12-8), which closed its regular-season slate.
The Wolfpack have lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Wolfpack scoring leader Terquavion Smith was held without a point before halftime and finished with eight points on 2-of-9 shooting.
NC State was within 59-53 with 4 1/2 minutes to play following a Duke scoring drought of more than three minutes. Mitchell made two free throws and Roach sank a pair of jumpers before the Wolfpack scored again.
However, when the Blue Devils went cold again, NC State responded. Jointer had five points in a 29-second stretch, closing the gap to 65-61 with 52 seconds to play. After two Roach free throws, Joiner drained another 3-pointer. Proctor’s four foul shots in the last 18 seconds helped clinch the outcome.
Duke scored on its first six possessions of the second half and was up 44-34.
Earlier, a 9-0 Blue Devils run produced a 24-17 lead before Joiner, who departed early in the game with an apparent ankle injury, struck back.
Duke led 33-29 at halftime, with the teams having combined to shoot 3-for-22 from 3-point range. Joiner had 12 points by the break. Filipowski was 0-for-5 from the field prior to intermission, though he had 10 rebounds.
However, the Blue Devils were 12-for-17 on first-half free throws, while the Wolfpack connected on their lone attempt. Duke finished 23 of 29 on foul shots, while NC State went 7 of 8.
–Field Level Media