N.C. State stuns No. 17 Duke
Freshman Dennis Smith Jr. scored a season-high 32 points to help North Carolina State rally from 12 down late in the first half and stun No. 17 Duke 84-82 on Monday night.
Abdul-Malik Abu added 19 points for the Wolfpack (14-7, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who earned the program’s first win at Duke’s famously hostile Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995. N.C. State ran off a 20-5 run to erase a 68-59 deficit in the final 6 ½ minutes, then got one final stop when Jayson Tatum lost control of the ball before getting a shot off on Duke’s final possession.
N.C. State shot 55 percent after halftime, with Smith dominating the Blue Devils (15-5, 3-4) all night and finishing 10 for 18 from the floor with six assists.
Luke Kennard finished with 20 points to lead Duke, which shot just 38 percent after halftime.
No. 3 GONZAGA 83, PORTLAND 64: Zach Collins had 13 points and No. 3 Gonzaga remained the nation’s only undefeated Division I team with a victory over Portland in a game that was rescheduled because of a winter storm earlier this month. The Bulldogs have won 20 straight games, their longest streak since winning that many in the 2005-06 and 2003-04 seasons. Gonzaga is now 8-0 in West Coast Conference play. Silas Melson and Jordan Mathews each added 12 points for the Zags, who led by as many as 33 points and had four players in doubledigits. Rashad Jackson and D’Marques Tyson had 15 points apiece for Portland, which won its first two games in conference but has lost six straight since then. The Pilots (9-11, 2-6 WCC) are playing their first season under former NBA player and coach Terry Porter. The game was originally scheduled for Jan. 7, but a winter storm in Portland forced it to be postponed.
Portland opened up extra seats and Gonzaga’s fans outnumbered the home team’s crowd.