Wolfpack Upset the #1 Blue Devils: 84-76

The season for the NC State Wolfpack did not start out as planned with some losses to teams that should have been wins. They began to fall off of many people’s radars and many analysts had erased NC State as contenders. Today, the Wolfpack corrected them and proved their back and back in a big way!

Jan 12, 2013; Raleigh, NC, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack fans storm the court after an upset of the Duke Blue Devils at PNC Arena. North Carolina State won 84-76. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Home-field advantage and the injury of Ryan Kelly all played out in State’s favor today in their 84-76 victory over the Blue Devils.

CJ Leslie scored twenty-five points, had six rebounds and two blocks.

“I thought our guys, they accepted the challenge,” Coach Mark Gottfried said. “It’s one of those (games) where it comes to a point where mentally you say, ‘I’m going to get it done’ and they’re not going to go away. … They’re not going to lay down for us. Our guys mentally showed a lot of toughness.”

The Blue Devils were led by Seth Curry with twenty-two points and five rebounds.

“I thought we played our butts off,” Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Our kids played with a lot of heart, their kids played with a lot of heart, and they were a little better than we were.”

Today’s Wolfpack victory marks the first time since 2004 that NC State has defeated Duke and it came at a critical time for the Wolfpack. It put them back on the radar and gave Duke potentially their only loss of the regular season.