The king is dead

A youngster behind the basket nearest the Duke bench waved a sign that said, simply, “Dynasty,” the capital D rendered in the same Gothic script used by the Blue Devils. But all dynasties come to an end, no matter how contorted the definition, and so tonight the most remarkable streak in ACC Tournament history was snuffed by the last program to prevent Duke from reaching the finals.

“It really hurts a lot,” said Duke junior DeMarcus Nelson, "because I’ve here two years, my last two years I’ve won the tournament.”

N.C. State last beat the Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament in the 1997 quarterfinals. Since then, Mike Krzyzewski's squads went on a run of nine consecutive championship appearances. The 85-80 overtime victory by the 10^th-seed Wolfpack, fueled by a personal-best 30 points from forward Brandon Costner, improved its record to 16-14 and sent seventh seed Duke home with its third overtime loss in three tries this season.

The fortunes of lower seeds have now sprouted in all three opening round games. Earlier, Florida State beat Clemson in a 9-8 matchup, and No.12 Miami ousted fifth seed Maryland. Krzyzewski cited this as evidence of the ACC’s strength and balance.

Duke won the previous meeting between these two teams, at Raleigh in January, but point guard Engin Atsur was absent for the Pack due to a hamstring injury. This time the missing party was Duke wing Gerald Henderson, suspended for a game after his harsh blow injured North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough last Sunday.

This was the second time in three seasons a team missing a key, suspended performer went out quickly in the ACC Tournament at the hands of N.C. State. Wake Forest, the second seed, lost to the Pack in the 2005 quarterfinals without guard Chris Paul.

There was little surprise in Duke’s demise, as its defense proved little obstacle for the third straight game. N.C. State made a stunning 60.8 percent of its shots, the school’s best in the ACC Tournament in seven years and the best against Duke this season. “We executed our offense extremely well,” said Sidney Lowe, one of nine ACC players who went on to coach in the league.”We took what was there, and then we got big stops down the stretch.”

Duke had five players in double figures, including guard Marty Pocius, whose 14 were a career high but not enough as Duke fell to 22-10.