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State Now is your place for Wolfpack sports. Beat writer Joe Giglio has up-to-the-minute news and analysis. Columnist Luke DeCock also contributes. Follow us on Twitter at @jwgiglio or @accnow.

Leslie and Wolfpack student make NBC's 'Today' Show

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It's still the "dumbest" thing he has ever done, Will Privette insists, but the N.C. State student who stormed the court in his wheelchair after the Wolfpack's win over No. 1 Duke on Saturday has enjoyed the whirlwind of attention he has gotten since.

Privette and N.C. State star C.J. Leslie were on NBC's "Today" show on Tuesday morning, re-telling their story from the wild post-game celebration after the Wolfpack's win over Duke.

A blue hangover waiting for N.C. State? History says yes

Maybe coach Mark Gottfried was onto something with his whole wet-blanket routine immediately following N.C. State's 84-76 win over No. 1 Duke on Saturday.

Over the past 20 years, N.C. State has 14 regular-season wins over Duke and UNC. The Wolfpack's record in the next ACC game after a win over Duke or UNC is 1-12. That lone win was actually over UNC in 2002-03, which was preceded by a home win over No. 3 Duke.

None of the follow-up losses were to UNC or Duke but five were to Maryland. N.C. State's next opponent? You guessed it, Maryland.

Postgame: thoughts from Duke's 84-76 loss at N.C. State


As N.C. State head coach Mark Gottfried said, Duke vs. the Wolfpack was "a grown-man's game. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

RALEIGH—Duke didn’t play bad in its 84-76 loss at N.C. State. The Wolfpack simply played better.

“They played a heck of a game,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said of the Wolfpack. “We fought like crazy throughout the game and gave ourselves a chance to win. State played outstanding basketball.”

Lorenzo Brown and Richard Howell drew extra praise from Krzyzewski, as he said both were among the best in the country at their positions. Both were able to win their individual matchups with Quinn Cook and Mason Plumlee, two of Duke’s top performers this year. Here’s a closer look at how each individual matchup played out.

Quinn Cook (6-1, 175) vs. Lorenzo Brown (6-5, 186)

N.C. State scored 22 fast-break points, and that, in Krzyzewski’s mind, was the difference in the game.

Three Points: Confidence, Big Rich and rebounds

Three Points (and 1) from N.C. State's 84-76 win over Duke:

1) You can't fake confidence

While the fans and N.C. State players stormed the court to celebrate the Wolfpack's win over Duke, coach Mark Gottfried fretted to ESPN's Jeannine Edwards about Wednesday's trip to Maryland. That's what coaches do, understood, but if there's anything N.C. State has shown in 53 games under Gottfried, it's that when it gets confidence, it keeps it.

The crazy thing about N.C. State last March was it started to play with confidence after a four-game losing streak. What will a rare win over Duke, and 10 straight wins overall, do for this group?

Wolfpack knocks off No. 1 Duke, 84-76

RALEIGH — Move over, No. 1 Duke, and make room for first-place N.C. State.

No. 20 N.C. State knocked off previously unbeaten Duke 84-76 on Saturday afternoon in a throwback ACC game which reset the conference order.

With 16 points and 18 rebounds from forward Richard Howell and a game-high 25 points from forward C.J. Leslie, N.C. State won its 10th straight game and improved to 3-0 in the ACC.

N.C. State hasn't hit either of those milestones since the 1988-89 season, which happens to be the last time the Wolfpack won an ACC title.

Rather than make declarative statements about the meaning of the win, only the fifth over Duke in 26 tries since 2000, N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried kind of shrugged when asked about it.

"I don't know that it validates anything," Gottfried said. "I don't really get into all that, I'm just happy for our players."

ACC releases 2013 league football matchups

The ACC released league matchups for next football season Friday. Actual dates for the games will be released in February. Here's what is on tap for Duke:

2013 ACC home games (not in chronological order): Georgia Tech, Miami, Pittsburgh and N.C. State

2013 ACC Road games (not in chronological order): North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest

For North Carolina:

2013 ACC home games (not in chronological order): Boston College, Duke, Miami, Virginia

2013 ACC road games (not in chronological order): Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech.

For N.C. State:

2013 ACC home games (not in chronological order): Clemson, Maryland, North Carolina, Syracuse

2013 ACC road games (not in chronological order): Boston College, Duke, Florida State, Wake Forest

Initial thoughts:

N.C. State's Battle arrested for DWI

Staats Battle, a reserve on N.C. State's basketball, was arrested for driving while impaired on Jan. 1, according to the Raleigh Police Department.

Battle, who's from Raleigh, was charged in Wake County with driving while impaired and for being under the legal drinking age and driving after consuming alcohol, according to court documents. Battle, whose given name is William Richardson Staats, is 19. He has a court date set for Feb. 6 in Wake County.

Three Points: Working the corners, Tech's future and second chances

Three Points from N.C. State's 83-70 home win over Georgia Tech on Wednesday:

1) For every action …

Newton's laws apply to scouting reports, too. I was somewhat baffled that none of N.C. State's nonconference opponents overtly identified the play called "corner."

I'm not divulging any trade secrets here when I tell you "corner" is a set play, so aptly named for Scott Wood to take a 3-pointer from one of the corners of the court. Wood runs his man from one side of the baseline to the other and uses a screen, usually from forward Richard Howell, to get open at the 3-point line.

Brown, Wood lead Pack to 83-70 win over Georgia Tech

RALEIGH — N.C. State will play No. 1 Duke on Saturday, but Georgia Tech got the Wolfpack's attention on Wednesday.

No. 20 N.C. State needed 21 points from Lorenzo Brown and 20 from Scott Wood to hold off the resilient Yellow Jackets, 83-70 to improve to 2-0 in the ACC and set up Saturday's big game.

The Pack (13-2, 2-0 ACC) had to take care of Georgia Tech first. The Jackets didn't make it easy.

Three Points: A bottom-line game, praise of Donahue, a plea to the ACC

Three Points from N.C. State's 78-73 win at Boston College on Saturday:

1) All wins are not created equal ...

… but they all count the same in the conference standings.

Mark Gottfried made the point before Saturday's ACC opener, all 18 conference count the same, no matter how much more we (media/fans/players/coaches) want to put on the Duke or Carolina games.

N.C. State was not great, by any definition, on Saturday, but the Wolfpack was good enough to win. More importantly, it was a game it could have lost but did not.

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