‘Punch them in the mouth.’ How NC State backed down Duke in a thrilling, 24-point win

N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts sat in a folding chair Wednesday night at PNC Arena, legs crossed, in no hurry, casually glancing at a post-game stat sheet.

Much of what caught Keatts’ eye was satisfying, reassuring — especially the final score: N.C. State 84, Duke 60.

A few feet down the hallway, Duke coach Jon Scheyer was inside the media interview room, trying to explain and make sense of it all. Keatts sat and patiently waited his turn.

“We had 13 assists and six turnovers,” Keatts said, a slight smile on his face.

“They had 10 assists and 21 turnovers,” he added.

Another look. “We had 70 shots and they had 48.”

Coaches dwell on such things. Those were the first things Keatts mentioned after the game.

Someone said the Pack’s 24-point win over the No. 16 Blue Devils was one of the biggest in the long series history, topping the 88-66 victory in 2020 at PNC Arena. Keatts nodded his head, letting the comment stand on its own.

But there really wasn’t much to say after the lopsided win, by either Keatts or Scheyer. The Pack (12-4, 2-3 ACC) was good, made the Blue Devils look average and took care of business quickly, scoring the first 15 points of the game, leading 22-4 early, and never looking back.

“Our game plan was to come out against a great Duke team and punch them in the mouth first,” Wolfpack center D.J. Burns said. “We wanted to go at them as soon as the game started and keep that intensity throughout.”

Punch the Blue Devils the Wolfpack did. Keep the intensity level high the Wolfpack achieved as the effort never waned.

“I just wanted to keep going at them,” Pack guard Terquavion Smith said. “Keep throwing punches. Don’t play on our heels because we’re winning. Keep going at them and see if they can handle it, or throw one back.”

The Blue Devils (11-4, 2-2) did not handle it well in the first half, didn’t punch back. They fell behind 44-22 at the break even as Scheyer called timeouts — losing his cool in one — and tried his best to get his team calmed down and turned in the right direction.

But the Pack kept at it, blocking shots, swatting away balls for turnovers, diving on the floor for loose balls.

“They outplayed us really in every facet,” Scheyer said. “Their guards controlled the game.”

Smith had 24 points and Jarkel Joiner 21 points, nine assists and no turnovers. Between them, the two guards were nine-of-18 on 3-pointers, bouncing up and down after some 3’s that caused Wolfpack fans in the crowd of more than 15,000 to rumble.

“Yesterday before practice I sat those two guys down and I said, ‘We’re going to be as good as you guys are and you guys can’t be average,’ and they stepped up today,” Keatts said.

But Keatts also was proud of the Wolfpack defense. Duke shot 50% from the field in the second half but was playing from behind the whole time and the Blue Devils’ 21 turnovers resulted in 30 Pack points.

“It might have been the best defensive game since I’ve been here for two halves,” Keatts said.

A 14-point loss at Clemson last Friday did not sit well with the Wolfpack. That loss stung even more in that starting forward Jack Clark suffered a core muscle injury that kept him out of Wednesday’s game.

“We didn’t like the Clemson game at all and thought we got out-toughed,” Keatts said.

That didn’t happen Wednesday. The Pack was at home this night, the tougher, better team.

“It was the first game that our guys have felt what PNC can be like on a good night,” Keatts said.

By late in the game, Wolfpack fans were serenading Burns, who had 18 points and four blocks in 16 minutes, with chants of “DJ! DJ!” as the Pack enjoyed itself on the court.

“The new crowd favorite was really good,” Keatts said, smiling.

So was the game atmosphere. The crowd was loud, into it and the Wolfpack players noticed.

“I love it, man, this engagement,” Smith said. “This is what we want to bring back, want to bring back to Raleigh. It felt really good to have this scene tonight.

“It gets no bigger than that for us. I can’t tell you how I’m feeling, man. It feels good.”