No. 9 Duke pulls away from NC State, sets up showdown with UNC

By Brian Murphy, WRAL

Raleigh, N.C. — NC State showed again Monday night that it can hang with a top-10 ACC rival for much of the game.

But No. 9 Duke — like North Carolina on Saturday — proved too much in the end for the Wolfpack, pulling away in the final minutes for a 79-64 win at PNC Arena in Raleigh.

It was the final regular-season home game for NC State, which honored seniors DJ Burns, DJ Horne, Casey Morsell and Alex Nunnally before the game.

Duke improved to 24-6 overall and 15-4 in the ACC. The Blue Devils host No. 7 North Carolina on Saturday in Durham. ESPN's "College GameDay" will originate from Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday.

NC State fell to 17-13 and 9-10 in the ACC. The Wolfpack's final regular-season game is Saturday at Pittsburgh.

In its previous game, NC State led North Carolina by 10 early in the second half — only to see the Tar Heels roar back for a nine-point win.

The Wolfpack scored the game's first nine points Monday night against the Blue Devils. And NC State led 46-45 with 12:10 left after Mohamed Diarra's transition lay-up.

But Duke followed that with a 10-1 run, and the Wolfpack never got closer than five points the rest of the way.

Jeremy Roach led Duke with 21 points.

Freshman forward Sean Stewart had 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks in a season-high 26 minutes for the Blue Devils. He scored 16 points against LaSalle, the only other time he scored in double figures this season.

Burns had a team-high 27 points.