Game Blog: Duke Pulls Off Stunning Comeback, Beats State 87-86 For Coach K's 800th Win

11:54: Six minutes till tip and there might be 5,000 people in their seats. I don't know what it is about State fans, but they seem allergic to arriving before the game to cheer on their team. It's not the rivalry State/Carolina is, but I mean come on...you figure they could show up for the Devils.

11:59: Senior night here in Raleigh - Chad Williams and Gavin Grant were honored. Obviously Williams hasn't been much of a contributor, but Gavin grant is a different story. Grant has always been an interview favorite of the media because of his willingness to speak his mind. He currently sits at fifth in career scoring, seventh in assists and eighth in rebounds among active ACC players.

12:02: State comes out to that song the Bulls used to play when they were in their dynastic run with Jordan and Co. I say without hesitation that it is the greatest player into song ever...and there is no debate.

12:03: Interesting move by Coach Lowe in putting Tracy Smith in the starting lineup - anyone who watched the team's last game against Florida State knows he was one of the few that seemed to care about being on the court that night. Kudos to him for playing hard when it seems like there is little left for the Pack to play for. Congrats to number 23 on his first career start.

12:04: Duke haters will love that first play - Singler has become way to charge happy as the season has gone on. He needs to be smarter 14 seconds into the game. He's the best player for the Devils, but he has increasingly taken bad angles on defense and gotten called for blocks, and rightly so.

12:08: Three possessions and three fouls - if this is another edition of Duke vs. Miami I might throw myself off of press row in the rafters here at the RBC.

12:11: True, Paulus has become known for throwing himself on the floor in search of calls, but it's hard to fault the refs for calling javi for the charge there - Paulus was cut jut below the eye so obviously there was contact there. Not particularly classy on some of the fans' parts when they cheered the sight of Paulus getting medical attention on the bench.

12:21: When does a game have no flow to it? When there are so many fouls that one team is already in the bonus before the first TV timeout (Duke) and the other isn't far behind. I feel like I've been here for three days already and we still have 15 minutes and change left in the first half.

12:24: Hi, my name is Ryan and I'll be your host during today's charge-fest in Raleigh. There have been six charges called at a minimum so far - both teams have gotten hosed with calls. Josh Hailey, one of our sports producers at the station, and I have talked about how the block/charge call is ruining college basketball. The refs only get the call right about 30% of the time and it's so subjective that you never know what you're going to get. Neither team can dribble towards the paint in this game without getting called.

12:29: Nine minutes in and J.J. Hickson gets his first points. I don't even remember him getting a touch on the ball up until that point. The one place State has a huge advantage is down low with big number one - they need to feed him the ball more than they are now. Score is State 19, Duke 16.

12:34: Interesting state - Both teams are 10-10 from the free throw line. That's a ridiculous amount of free throws for the first 10 minutes of a game, but at least both teams are cashing in on the refs' plot to take over this game.

12:38: I'm not ready to put Javi Gonzalez on the All-ACC team just yet, but as the year has gone on two things have happened. He has separated himself from Marques Johnson as the unquestioned leader at the point, and has managed to turn himself into a shooter that you have to at least think about respecting from the outside. He's 2-2 from the three point line this afternoon, and has a blow by layup against Nolan Smith.

Tracy Smith (8 pts.) has provided the energy State has craved for some time now - if this were January and not March, I would say State had themselves something...as it is we'll have to wait until next year to see.

12:52: State is shooting 63% and while Duke is hitting at  a 30% mark - somehow Duke is still in this game, probably due to State's 10 turnovers. If you're Duke you have to feel like you're going to shoot better than that in the second half, if you're State you're kicking yourself for not holding on to the ball more in order to take advantage of Duke's pathetic shooting. State by five, 38-33.

12:55: Taylor King has gotten more minutes than usual in this one. His minutes have taken a huge hit since ACC play started, mostly because of his lack of defense and rebounding. There, however, he had a big offensive board and kick out to Scheyer who hit the three. Instead of State getting the ball with a chance to increase their lead to ten, the devils cut the lead to 5.

12:57: Big block by Henderson on Brandon Costner, and it turns into a Paulus three on the other end. Fells made Zoubek look foolish with a block of his own earlier, but then again, who doesn't block Brian Zoubek?

12:59: After 26 straight makes at the line for both teams, Taylor King misss both from the line. That guy needs to back up and shoot his freebies from the top of the key - his shot looks so much better from beyond the arc than it does from the charity stripe.

1:01: Case and point - King almost breaks the rim with two free throws and then catches nothing but net with a 3 coming out of a timeout for Duke with 20 ticks left in the first half.

I know he's been playing well lately and that he's become a crowd favorite, but I question the Trevor Ferguson iso with time running out.

It's halftime now - State leads by three, 47-44...

1:18: Javi Gonzalez will want to save the tape of that first half - 10 points on a perfect 4-4 from the field, including his two three-pointers. McCauley led State with 11 points, while Duke was led by Jon Scheyer who had 11 as well.

1:21: I'm wondering if Duke will go with Nolan Smith more in the second half - it's obvious Paulus can't guard Gonzalez one on one, and Javi's penetration is killing the Devils. He's either getting to the basket or driving into the lane, drawing a defender and hitting the open post player for an easy two or to draw a foul. Smith is by far the superior defender...coach K may want to play him more if he wants number 800.

1:23: Well I was right, sort of...Smith isn't on the floor, but DeMarcus Nelson is now guarding Javi. I guess the guy hasn't won 799 games for no reason - now we'll see if it does anything for the Devils.

1:26: Coach Lowe has always said all State needs to do is hit shots - well they're hitting them tonight. Every time Duke tries to help off the ball on defense, State is doing a great job of finding the open man and hitting the shot. First it was the legend himself, Trevor Ferguson from the baseline, and then future lottery pick Javi Gonzalez (who just hit a new career high in points with 13) from the opposite side. Duke is getting a taste of their own medicine this afternoon. State has widened the lead to eight, 61-53.

1:34: Nolan Smith is in the game for Duke to try and counteract State's drive and kick strategy. Duke won't panic in this situation, but State doesn't look like it's going to start beating itself like it did last time in Cameron. Gonzalez has 16 points on the night - he had five all of last game, to go with four fouls. State pulling away - 70-57 for the Pack.

1:43: McCauley and Gonzalez have kept State ahead, but it would be a blowout if it weren't for Jon Scheyer. Number 30 for the Devils has 19 points and he seems to be the only one capable of hitting an outside shot for a Duke team that has been in a slump for the better part of two weeks. Courtney Fells and Gavin Grant both have four fouls, so Sidney Lowe will need some minutes from guys like Dennis Horner and Ferguson to help buy him some time.

1:48: We're at the under eight timeout and State has widened its halftime lead to eight points. So far, State has answered every Duke run, with timely and ones from McCauley and a host of Javi Gonzalez highlights, the question is will Duke be able to make enough stops to gain any ground? On another note, I'm happy to see the refs actually let some guys play this half

1:54: I don't know what the boos are for - Costner raked Thomas across the face - big misses by Lance there, as his two free throws plus the Nelson three could have tied the game. As it stands Duke has closed to within two.

1:56: This is the best I've seen from J.J. Hickson in terms of dealing with the double team. Duke has consistently given Singler help in the post and the freshman has found the open man every time. Hickson's achilles heel early in the year was that he was a black hole in the post - if the ball went in to him it either became a shot or a turnover. He hasn't had many points tonight, only eight so far, but he's had a far greater effect than that on the way this game has gone.

2:01: Henderson just grabbed a fist full of Greg Paulus' jersey and got in his face on the way back to the bench for the under four timeout. Duke always seems to panic when they're down with a few minutes to go. They heave up threes instead of running their offense which is predicated on driving to the basket and either drawing fouls or kicking to an open teammate. State still leads by 7, 83-76, with two Henderson free throws pending. 3:06 left on the clock.

If Duke has to start fouling late in the game and it comes down to free throws it has to favor State, they've only missed one all day (22-23).

2:06: Gonzalez misses a free throw and Nelson hits a three on the other end. Nelson had been quiet for most of the day, but he's stepped up in the late going. His finishing around the rim has been awful, but he has 8 of their last 12 points when it's mattered. Two point game - State 84-82.

2:09: Gonzalez goes one of two again and this time it's Paulus on the other end. His three ties it at 85...the first tie of the game. Duke now has 13 threes on the day.

2:14: Nelson, no Steve Nash by any means, hits two huge free throws to pull Duke ahead 87-86 - their first since 25-23...all five Blue Devils hit the floor on their way down the court...we'll see if they get the stop they need.

2:16: Unbelievably, Duke pulls off the comeback and wins 87-86. I'll just put in print what everyone and their mother is thinking...why in the name of Tom Burleson would you not call timeout there??? You have less than four seconds on the clock and you're not even going towards the opposing basket. Coach Lowe is a great guy, but to leave two timeouts on the board there is inexcusable.

Duke has made their reputation on defense and they got the last-posession stop they desparately needed when they forced a turnover. Scheyer took a contested three to beat the shot clock and then the rest is history.

Duke will look at this as a game they should have lost, at least that's how I see it. They shot poorly, didn't defend the perimeter well at all and got almost nothing from Kyle Singler. And yet they won...they hit a ton of threes when their twos wouldn't fall and State got tight at the line when it mattered. They missed 3 of 5 at one point in crunch time (after making 22 of their first 23), two misses by Javi and one by McCauley - both of the guys that had played so well to even put them in a position to win.

Back with more stats in a bit...

Postgame: To clarify one thing - coach Lowe said he was calling for a timeout on the last play, but that the ref didn't give it to him. Lowe said that the ref looked right at him, saw him touching his shoulders to signal for the TO and then dismissed him...interesting - that oughta get the Pack fans up in arms.

State really should have won this game. They outshot Duke 54% to less than 39% for the game. Duke won because they went 13-28 from three (they made four more threes than they did twos) and because they forced 17 turnovers. Also, State missed three of their last six free throws with less than two and a half minutes left - compare that to DeMarcus Nelson, who was shooting less than 40% from the line the last three games for Duke. The senior captain was perfect from the line (4-4) in that same span.

Tracy Smith and Javier Gonzalez both played their best games of the season, but Jon Scheyer and Nelson were equal to the task.