Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - PNC Arena hasn't been kind to Duke since 2010.
The Blue Devils were 1-3 in their past four games at North Carolina State's home court entering Sunday's ACC clash, including two losses to the Wolfpack and an untimely defeat in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament against Mercer.
Trevor Lacey scored 21 points and NC State upset No. 2 Duke 87-75, continuing its streak of strong play at home against the Blue Devils.
Ralston Turner added 16 points on nine shots and BeeJay Anya gave 14 with four blocks off the bench for the Wolfpack (12-5, 3-1 ACC), who picked up a crucial win in their most grueling stretch of the season. They either play on the road or against a ranked team, or both, for six straight games.
"I'm really proud of our team," said NC State coach Mark Gottfried.
Duke won its first true road game of the season by 10 points against Wisconsin on Dec. 3, but couldn't duplicate that success in its second more than a month later.
The Blue Devils (14-1, 2-1) got 23 points and 12 rebounds from Jahlil Okafor and 18 points from Quinn Cook in their first loss of the season.
"We played really well at times, but in our league, people aren't going to play mediocre or poorly," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who remains three wins shy of 1,000 for his career. "You have to beat them when they're playing well."
Okafor scored eight quick points, hitting four of his first five shots in 5 1/2 minutes to boost Duke to an early lead. His putback dunk at 14:29 made it 13-8.
But constant double teams of the star freshman held him without a field goal attempt for the rest of the first half. Okafor managed just two free throws off an offensive rebound over the final 15:31 of the first half, and the Wolfpack capitalized.
"I've watched a lot of college basketball and I haven't seen someone like Okafor at our level in a long time," Gottfried said. "He's different and he forces you to do so many different things defensively."
Cody Martin's layup sparked an 11-0 flurry, which Okafor finally ended with his two free throws. Kyle Washington scored seven straight during the spurt, which gave NC State its first lead of the game late in the half, which ended with the Wolfpack in front 37-33.
Turner came alive after halftime, canning three 3s in five minutes to keep NC State in front.
Justise Winslow hit from deep nearly eight minutes into the second half to draw Duke within two. The Wolfpack then embarked on a 12-1 run, taking advantage of turnovers and poor decisions in climbing out to a double-digit lead. Lacey and Anya both scored five points during the run, which made it 62-49.
The spread grew to 19 points -- Duke's biggest deficit of the season -- following Lacey's triple with 5:43 to play.
Duke's fullcourt pressure late in the contest made things interesting, with a Cook 3-ball trimming the gap to 84-72. Anya's putback slam at the other end, and a fastbreak slam by Desmond Lee, were the daggers.
Game Notes
Okafor had three steals and three blocks on top of his fourth double-double of the season ... NC State outscored Duke 40-26 in the paint.
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