North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Prepares for Trip to Cameron
2/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NC State (12-10, 2-6 ACC) at Duke (20-2, 7-1 ACC)
Feb. 5, 2011 • 6 p.m.
Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) • Durham, N.C.
TV coverage: ESPN
NC State Game Notes | GameTracker
NC State Travels to Duke: The Wolfpack (12-10, 2-6 ACC) starts a two-game ACC road swing this weekend, traveling to Duke for a 6 p.m. contest on Saturday. NC State will have no midweek game next week, and will return to action at Wake Forest on February 13.
The Blue Devils (20-2, 7-1 ACC) sit atop the ACC standings at the halfway point with a 7-1 record. Duke is a perfect 8-0 at home this season, and have won 27 straight at Cameron Indoor Stadium dating back to the 2008-09 season.
This game will be televised on ESPN with Mike Patrick and Len Elmore.
The Series Versus Duke: Saturday's matchup will be the 234th meeting between NC State and Duke, with the Blue Devils holding a 136-97 lead in the series. The series is the second-longest in Wolfpack history, dating back to the 1911-12 season. This will be the second matchup between the teams this season, as NC State and Duke will be playing twice for only the second time in the last seven seasons.
Duke holds a 54-30 advantage in games played in Durham, including winning the last 12 meetings, and 18 of the last 19 games. The last win for the Pack in Cameron was a 77-60 showing during the 1994-95 season.
Duke has won 29 of the last 34 games played in the series dating back to the 1995 ACC Tournament. Three of those wins came in Raleigh, while NC State’s other two wins during that time frame were both in the ACC Tournament. In Sidney Lowe's first season, the 10th-seeded Pack knocked out seventh-seed Duke, 85-80 in overtime in the first round, and in 1997 NC State posted a 66-60 victory over the top-seeded Blue Devils in the quarterfinals.
Lowe Against Ranked Foes: In Sidney Lowe's five seasons, the Pack has posted a record of 9-22 against all ranked foes: NC State is 5-8 at home, 2-13 away, and 2-1 on a neutral court. The Pack's two road wins against ranked foes under Lowe were in 2007 at Virginia Tech and last season at Florida State.
Last season, NC State fared well against ranked opponents, posting a 3-2 record in such games. The Pack pulled off wins at No. 25 Florida State and at home against No. 7 Duke and No. 23 Wake Forest (by a combined 35 points), and its two losses (No. 24 Clemson and No. 21 Georgia Tech) were by a combined five points.
Pack Playing Ranked Duke: Playing a ranked Duke foe is not an uncommon feat for NC State, as Saturday's meeting will be the 76th time NC State has faced a top-10 Duke squad. The Pack is 17-58 against Duke in those previous games, including a win over No. 8 Duke last season at the RBC Center.
Earlier This Season Versus Duke: No. 4 Duke led from start to finish, as the Blue Devils came away with a 92-78 road win at the RBC Center on January 19. NC State fell behind early in the game, as Duke took a 42-28 lead into the half, with the Pack shooting just 21.6 percent (8-37). NC State came out of the half with an 11-2 run, and closed the game to 54-49 with 13:16 left, but the Blue Devils would score on seven of their next eight possessions and go on a 16-5 run to extend the lead. NC State had five players in double figures, with a team-high 19 points from Tracy Smith and 15 points from both Scott Wood and Ryan Harrow.
Last Time Out for NC State: Virginia Tech held off a late NC State rally, as the Hokies downed the Wolfpack, 77-69, at the RBC Center on Wednesday. Virginia Tech dominated the first half of play, scoring 19 second chance points to capture a 39-26 lead at the half. In the second half, the Pack was down 59-44 with 8:38 left, but went on a 13-4 run to get the lead down to six points with 4:29 left, but got no closer. C.J. Leslie finished with a team-high 18 points, on 7-of-11 shooting, while Tracy Smith and Scott Wood each added 11 points.
Pack's Tough Schedule: Over the first eight games of ACC play, NC State has faced tough competition. NC State's first four road opponents (BC, FSU, Clemson, UNC) have combined to win 64.5 percent (20-11) of their ACC contests thus far, giving NC State the toughest ACC road schedule thus far in conference play.
When talking about teams the Pack has lost to, NC State's six losses were to teams that have a combined 68.1 percent (32-15) winning percentage. Only Duke and Maryland are higher in that category.
Harrow Misses Action: Freshman point guard Ryan Harrow has missed each of the last two games due to illness with viral like symptoms. After the Virginia Tech game on Wednesday, Sidney Lowe said he was hopeful Harrow will be back in action this weekend at Duke.
Before he was sidelined, Harrow took over the Pack's point guard duties. He averaged 31.0 minutes in the three games before he got sick, and currently ranks second on the team in scoring at 11.0 points per game.
The Changing Lineup: NC State has been constantly changing its starting lineup this season, as the Wolfpack has had eight different starting lineups, with six different combinations being for just two games or less.
Sophomore Scott Wood has been the only player to start all 22 games this season, and Wood has also started all 58 games of his career.
When healthy this season, senior Tracy Smith as been the starter at center in 11 games. When Smith was out with a knee injury at the beginning of the season, sophomore DeShawn Painter started 11 games.
At power forward, sophomore Richard Howell and freshman C.J. Leslie have been splitting the duties all season. Howell has started the last four games, while Leslie was in the starting lineup 15 times this season.
Senior Javier Gonzalez (point guard - 19 starts) and freshman Lorenzo Brown (shooting guard - 18 starts) have started 37 of the possible 44 games at the guard positions this year. Freshman Ryan Harrow has three starts at point guard, while junior C.J. Williams has started four games at shooting guard.
In the season opener, the Pack started Gonzalez, Brown, Wood, Howell and Smith. It wasn't until the Pack's game on Wednesday at Virginia Tech that that lineup once again comprised the starting lineup.
Leslie and Brown Recover From Slumps: A lot of players have their ups and downs during a season, and for a pair of NC State rookies that has been the case recently.
C.J. Leslie started the first four ACC games, and averaged 14.3 points and 8.0 rebounds. Then Leslie got sick, and came off the bench in two straight games and averaged just 1.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in those contests. But Leslie's recent play has been more like the beginning of the ACC season. Over his last two games, he has averaged 16.0 points and 6.5 rebounds. He scored 14 points at North Carolina, and last time out had a team-high 18 points against Virginia Tech.
Lorenzo Brown also struggled in the early part of January, as he averaged just 5.0 points over a five game stretch. But over his last four games, Brown has averaged 11.8 points and 3.8 assists, including a career-high 20 points at North Carolina.
