WRAL's Dane Huffman is writing a live blog tonight from Cameron Indoor Stadium. Check in and give your thoughts and observations as the game unfolds.

 11:14 p.m.: Duke just won it, 92-72, behind a stellar effort from Greg Paulus. We'll have a bunch more coming on the website - complete game story, video from the coaches and players and dozens of still photographs. Stay tuned.

11:11 p.m.: Duke students are shouting "NIT!" at N.C. State with Duke ahead 90-70 with 1:10 left.

10:59 p.m.: Looks like Duke pretty much has this one in hand. Kyle Singler just nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing that put Duke ahead 79-63.

State has fought hard, but State hasn't been able to handle Duke's pressure in the second half and has failed to score consistently.

Still, State doesn't look like the wobbly team that failed to show at UNC and lost to East Carolina and New Orleans. So maybe the Pack is finally rounding into a team that can compete with upper-level ACC teams.

As for Duke, the Blue Devils athlleticism is fun to watch up close. Kyle Singler just missed a short attempt and DeMarcus Nelson shot up from floor and tipped the ball in in a beautiful acrobatic move.

Duke passes the ball well, too. You can see how the Duke players feed on that as they whip the ball around. It's almost as if one great pass encourages players to make another. In Duke's runs, that ability to pass the ball, almost an overlooked art in basketball now, is evident.

10:51 p.m.:  Duke's balance and athletic ability has been evident here in the second half.

With Greg Paulus having a marvelous game at point guard, the Blue Devils has rushed away from State after a struggling in the first half.

After scoring 46 points in the first half, State has scored just 15 points so far as Duke leads 74-61 with 7:31 to play.

Paulus has 22 points and a number of terrific passes and defensive plays. And N.C. State, after settling down and running its offense well in the first half, can't seem to get open shots.

State can't hit free throws, either, which has hurt the Pack.

 10:34 p.m.: Greg Paulus just made some nreal plays to push Duke back ahead.

He hit a 3-pointer to give Duke a 52-51 lead, another 3-poiner to tie the score at 55.

Then he stripped Javi Gonzalez and passed ahead to David McClure for a breakaway.

And after he hasseled Gonzalex into another turnover, he made an over-the-shoulder flip to Kyle Singler for a basket and a 59-55 lead.

10:26 P.M.: OK, we're into the second half and the Cameron Crazies are out in force now. State's 9-point halftime lead has dropped to 51-49 and Duke has the ball.

Marques Johnson was just called for a charge - now there's a surprise - and Sidney Lowe put Gonzalez back on the floor at 16:37.

Greg Paulus just hit a 3-pointer and let out a primal scream and slapped the floor as the student section erupted. Duke's 51-52 lead was its first since long ago in the first half.

State, though, didn't wobble. The Wolfpack got the ball inside and he was fouled. He's going to the line after this timeout.

 10:04 p.m.: Wow, what a half. Never thought State had a chance to win and here they are with a 46-37 halftime lead.

The Crazies are even chanting 'No More Green!" and taking off their T-shirts. Geez, one guy near me just yanked off his shirt.

OK, here's the view from Duke senior Jason Brown, who just yanked off his green shirt and put on his blue one.

"You can't mess with something that's worked for all these years. You've got to go with true blue."

Fair enough.

9:56 p.m.: We have a Brandon Costner siting. 

After sitting out the game at Florida State - or so it seemed - Costner has been strong off the bench here today.

Right now, he has 11 points and his strong play is a big reason State is ahead 41-34. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski just called time-out and the Blue Devils really haven't been able to rattle State like they did early in the game.

9:48 p.m.: Oh, another interesting situation. Brandon Costner is going for a close basket and Greg Paulus fouls him hard. Paulus turned and went away and Costner popped up with an angry look like he wanted to fight.

His State teammates quickly rushed to him, and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski didn't look happy that Costner had such a belligerent look.

What did you see at home?

9:44 p.m.: And the Shane Battier Flop Award goes to ... David McClure ...

This just happened right in front of me. Gonzalez drove and bounced a pass inside to J.J. Hickson. Hickson went hard to the basket and was called for a charge after McClure crumpled to the basket.

Hmm ... Didn't look like much of a charge to me. What did those of you who saw the replay think?

 9:37 p.m.: N.C. State just put together one of its most impressive stretches of the season.

After Sidney Lowe yanked Marques Johnson and put in Javi Gonzalez, the Wolfpack looked much calmer on the court. Gonzalez wasn't Chris Corchiani or anything but he did ge the Pack into its sets and make some decent passes.

On one play, he drove by Nolan Smith, drew the defense into the lane and kicked left to Gavin Grant .Grant pump-faked a defender and hit a nice jumper.

On the play after that, State's J.J. Hickson cradled the ball in his right arm like a football, stormed down the lane through a sea of Duke hands and laid in a basket for a 25-19 State lead (one of the Crazies behind me just read that and insisted it was a travel ... Shouldn't he be studying for a Chemistry exam?)

OK ... back to  basketball .. Gonzalez just drove, passed right and Grant hit a 3-point lead.

The Wolfpack actually leads this 30-23 and we've unexpectedly got a game here.

9:20 p.m.: To answer the reader's question, the Cameron Crazies are wearing green for one game  to highlight Duke's commitment to sustainable environmental practices, recycling and water conservation. Thanks for asking.

 9:13 p.m.: It's obvious so far that Marques Johnson is overmatched in this game. Duke started full-court pressing after scoring oon its first possession and Johnson was helpless against it. Obviously, the Duke coaching staff knew State handled the ball poorly.

In fact, Ben McCauley brought the ball up for State some, and Gavin Grant handled it often.

After State had four turnovers its first six possessions, coach Sidney Lowe called tme and put freshman Javi Gonzalez in.

Duke's Nolan Smith is defending Gonzalez right now, and Gonzalez actually looks somewhat comfortable on the court.

Still, it's now 10-5 Duke with a timeout at 15:48.

State fans out there reading are welcome to weigh in, but the Pack's clear problem so far this season - lack of a point guard - isn't going to be solved by Johnson.

8:48 p.m.: The Cameron Crazies are more scripted than you might think. In fact, the Crazies pass out cheer suggestions before the games for the students to work from.

WRAL's Barry Jacobs picked one up before the game. It has the Wolfpack roster on it with all sorts of information.

J.J. Hickson's nickname is Bubba Gump ... (Is it really? I dunno, but the Crazies say so)....

The Duke students are are coach Sidney Lowe did not earn his degree from N.C. State but from St. Paul's in Virginia, after he had accepted the Wolfpack job. ...

State's losses to New Orleans and East Carolina are noted. ... And oh, Lowe apparenly once asked Courtney Fells, "Why are you afraid?"

By the way, the Crazies right behind press row are given us a hard time about publishing this ... and I just heard I'm using poor grammer ... er, grammar ... 

By the way, it's pretty stunning to see the Duke students wearing their green T-shirts tonight.