No. 16 Duke renews an in-state rivalry Wednesday when it travels to Raleigh, N.C., to take on NC State.
The Blue Devils (11-3, 2-1 ACC) rose a spot in the AP Top 25 Poll this week after beating Florida State 86-67 on Saturday. Ryan Young led the way with 20 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, while Jaylen Blakes had 17 points.
Duke beat FSU with sharp shooting, knocking down 50.9 percent of its attempts from the floor and 44 percent of its shots from 3-point range. Young made all seven of his field-goal attempts and all six shots from the charity stripe.
“That’s something that really, I think, can hurt teams, when we throw the ball in and it’s not just a one-on-one game there,” Young said. “All five guys are in the play, with the passing ability that we have out of the post. It’s something that I take a lot of pride in personally.”
Young transferred to Duke this offseason as a graduate student from Northwestern, where he played three seasons. Saturday’s outing was just the fourth time in his career that he scored at least 20 points. Young is averaging 8.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game this season while shooting 75 percent from the floor through 14 games — four of which he has started. He’s playing about 21 minutes a night.
“Ryan Young — obviously a big-time night, not missing a field goal, not missing a free throw. Just his rebounding, you feel like when a shot’s taken he’s going to come up with the ball,” first-year Duke coach Jon Scheyer said.
Leading Duke in scoring this season is freshman big man Kyle Filipkowski with 13.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Veteran guard Jeremy Roach is averaging 12.5 points per game. Neither player scored in double digits against FSU.
Roach had nine points on 2-of-10 shooting while Filipowski finished with six points while battling foul trouble.
After winning three straight, NC State (11-4, 1-3) fell in its last outing, losing 78-64 at Clemson. Terquavion Smith scored 21 points, but the Wolfpack shot just 8-of-31 from 3-point range and allowed Clemson’s bench to score 25 points.
Casey Morsell was the only other Wolfpack player to score in double digits, finishing with 13 points. In NC State’s previous outing, a 76-64 win over Louisville, Morsell and Smith combined for 29 points, and Morsell was the recipient of a handful of Smith’s assists.
“The chemistry is big; all of those guys know where I’m going to be,” Morsell said. “I know going into each game where I’m going to find my shot. That makes it easier to get my shots off.”
Lately, NC State coach Kevin Keatts has been impressed with graduate forward DJ Burns Jr., a transfer from Winthrop. He had just five points and six boards in the loss at Clemson, but averaged 17.5 points and seven rebounds per game in wins over Louisville and Vanderbilt. It’s those kinds of performances that earned Burns the nod as Big South Player of the Year at Winthrop.
“He’s as gifted a post guy scoring the ball that I’ve seen in a long time,” Keatts said. “He’s talented. … He’s really good; he’s tough to stop down there.”
NC State is 62-94 all-time against Duke. The Wolfpack have lost three straight to the Blue Devils and 14 of the last 18.
–Field Level Media