National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Duke 78, N.C. State 73
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, February 16, 2012
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina
Officials: # Mike Eades, # Les Jones, # Tim Nestor
Attendance: 9314

DUKE 78, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 73: Seth Curry scored 21 of his 26 points in the second half and Austin Rivers hit a pair of key 3-pointers as No. 4 Duke overcame a 20-point deficit to nip North Carolina State.

Rivers finished with 16 points and Mason Plumlee collected nine points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils (22-4, 9-2 ACC), who went 20 for 38 at the free-throw line to overcome an 8-for-29 effort from beyond the arc.

North Carolina State (18-8, 7-4) led by as much as 61-41 after Lorenzo Brown hit a pair of free throws with 11:33 left. But the Wolfpack went cold from there, going four minutes without a point as Duke started to crawl back into the game.

Rivers’ 3-pointer with 6:03 left cut the deficit to single digits, 68-59, and kicked off a 22-5 burst that closed the game.

Another 3-pointer from Rivers with 2:29 left gave the Blue Devils their first lead of the game, 72-71.

Curry grabbed a defensive rebound with six seconds left and hit two free throws to seal the comeback win.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Brown scored 19 points to lead the Wolpack. … Duke shot 30.6 percent in the first half. … NC State faces No. 21 Florida State and No. 7 North Carolina in its next two games as it attempts to stay on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Top Game Performances
 
N.C. State   Duke
Lorenzo Brown 19 Scoring Seth Curry 26
Lorenzo Brown 5 Assists Tyler Thornton 3
C.J. Leslie 9 Rebounds Mason Plumlee 10
Scott Wood 7 Free Throws Made Austin Rivers 6
Lorenzo Brown 2 Steals Tyler Thornton 3
C.J. Leslie 6 Blocks Mason Plumlee 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
N.C. State 73 44.1 5-11 16-24 12 39 8 3 15
Duke 78 36.2 8-29 20-28 11 31 3 8 5