No. 3 Duke drops second straight to N.C. State

Posted 6:56AM on Thursday 23rd January 2003 ( 22 years ago )

RALEIGH, N.C. - After two straight losses to open the 1999-2000 season, Duke has followed up each of its 10 defeats in a 119-game span with wins averaging 29.3 points. Not this time. The No. 3 Blue Devils lost consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference games for the first time since January 1997 by shooting a season-low 37.7 percent in an 80-71 loss to North Carolina State on Wednesday night. Duke (12-2, 3-2 ACC) started 7-for-9 from the field to build a 10-point lead, but made 13-of-44 shots the rest of the way and uncharacteristically faded down the stretch. The loss came on the heels of a 15-point defeat at Maryland over the weekend as the Wolfpack (10-4, 3-1) snapped a 13-game losing streak to the Blue Devils. ``We have to rebound from this and keep moving,'' Dahntay Jones said. ``We have to try to stay strong and keep our heads together.'' Duke's backcourt the team's strong suit so far this season failed in the second half. J.J. Redick had 20 points in the first period, but just four in the second, and team leader Chris Duhon finished 1-for-9 shooting with five turnovers. ``In order for us to win at a high level Chris will have to play at a higher level than he did,'' coach Mike Krzyzewski said of his junior point guard. ``But it's mid-January and it's a good lesson to learn right now.'' Duhon took the consecutive losses in stride. ``Games like this happen,'' Duhon said. ``We didn't expect to have a perfect season. We have to roll up our sleeves even higher, put on extra war paint and just go out with a different attitude and a higher energy level.'' Clifford Crawford outplayed Duhon on the offensive end with 21 points and six assists, and he shut down Redick with his defense in the second half as the Wolfpack moved one-half game behind ACC leader Maryland. The win was quite a turnaround for the Wolfpack, who lost 93-81 to a .500 Boston College team at home a week ago. ``We just went back to the drawing board,'' said Marcus Melvin, who added 15 points and was key from the foul line over the final two minutes. ``Hopefully we won't have to go back there no more. ``You know it was a tough week,'' he added. ``We've got Herb Sendek as our coach. ... He just had us go back to work, doing a lot of individual stuff and a lot of team stuff to try to learn how to keep our composure and our poise and finish games out like a great team. That's what we did.'' Crawford came in 3-for-12 from 3-point range this season, but the senior guard was 4-of-5 from long range as the Wolfpack connected on 9-of-21 beyond the arc after shooting a combined 13-of-53 in the last two games from long range. N.C. State led 59-58 with 5:56 left when Julius Hodge, who added 18 points, started a 9-0 run that would turn the game around. He hit a twisting layup, and Crawford followed with a 3-pointer and a layup as the Wolfpack went up by 10. N.C. State, the second-best free throw shooting team in the ACC, then went 13-of-16 from the foul line over the final 1:42 to seal it. ``On the night when you could single our any number of players and praise them, I think one word probably is best, and that is team,'' Sendek said. ``This was team, team, team. Anytime you put it together like we did, it really puts an accent on team.''

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