No, I’m not surprised that N.C. State ended Duke’s run as kings of the ACC tournament. The Devils were there to be taken, and State was ready to take them, 85-80.

All season, coach Sidney Lowe has said that when his Wolfpack plays with heart and passion, they can play with anybody. Sometimes they haven’t done that, but Thursday night they did. Several times they could have packed it in—but not this Pack, not on this night.

“They knew it was a big game for us, and we just had great concentration, great focus,” says State’s first-year coach. “We were tough, I thought, not just physically but mentally.”

State withstood an 11-0 Duke run in the first half and came from six down in the second with the chance to win in regulation.

Sidney Lowe had said on Wednesday that he thought his thin team was fresh, and they appeared to be that in the overtime. Brandon Costner, magnificent all night with 30 points, got them going with the three-point play to make it 73-70, and State didn’t trail again.

The key to State has always been how well they shoot. It’s hard to beat a team that fires away at nearly 61 percent.

And how important is Engin Atsur? After a scoreless first half, Atsur, always so calm, kept his poise and scored all 21 of his points in the second half.

“I don’t know what I can really say about Brandon and Engin because they pretty much carried us the whole game,” says Gavin Grant, who had nine points and six rebounds.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski won’t have his team in the finals for the first time since 1998, and he paid State its due.

“The effort of the North Carolina State kids was terrific,” said the veteran Duke coach. “Costner was extremely difficult to stop, and Atsur’s ability to have a calming influence on his team—no matter what amount of pressure we put on him—was good. Big-time kids, not just big-time players, they do those things.”

For Duke, who very much missed the suspended Gerald Henderson, the loss was their third straight and continued what has been a frustrating season. At one point Duke was 18-3, but will enter the NCAA tournament at just 22-10 and a first-round exit in the tournament that they have owned.

“I don’t know if our team’s gotten tired, gotten worn down,” says Krzyzewski. “I know they’re still working hard, but that can happen at the end of the year. We’ve tried to take care of that the last couple of days, but what we attempted to do obviously didn’t translate into us doing a better job.”

So Duke is done and State moves on. The veteran Atsur, whose senior year has been hampered by hamstring problems, says he just wants to keep playing.

“At this point, we’ve got nothing to lose. We just want to finish our season strong,” said Atsur. “I think we were mentally stronger than ever, and we want to keep doing this.”

And the Pack players certainly know what a win over Duke means to Wolfpack Nation.

“As you know, the rivalries are great on Tobacco Road and nothing will make our fans and us happier than to beat Carolina and Duke,” Costner says. “To succeed in beating them this year is a great accomplishment.”

Ah, that is the key. Are they satisfied with just beating Duke? Will State still be hungry for Friday’s quarterfinals against a very beatable Virginia team that lately has had trouble with the ACC’s bottom rung? Will the upset of Duke be enough for them, or will the passion and fight that won that game be there against the Cavaliers?

The former point guard in the Red Coat knows something about tournament play. He knows all about surviving and advancing. He wants it badly, and he wants his players to want it the same way he does.

Sidney Lowe loves this tournament. He knows there’s opportunity to take it even further.

He said prior to the tournament he felt that State could do something special.

Playing on Friday is a step in that direction.