Three Points from N.C. State's 98-85 loss at Duke:

1) Defending the 3

Duke made 10 3-pointers in the first half, four more than it had in the entire first game against N.C. State. Seth Curry and Quinn Cook made four 3-pointers each and Rasheed Sulaimon added two.

Duke outscored N.C. State 30-3 from the 3-point line in the first half to take a 58-37 lead. Of the 10 3s, on 17 attempts, nine came at the expense of one of N.C State's three freshmen on defense, seven were uncontested and two were in transition.

As N.C. State forward Richard Howell noted, and prefaced with a Samuel L. Jackson-type expletive, "They couldn't miss."

Some Duke fans taunted N.C. State freshman Tyler Lewis about his late grandmother in Thursday's game, Lewis' father said Friday.

Lewis went to the foul line at 13:47 in the second half of Thursday's loss at Duke. Most fans in the Duke student section chanted, "Past your bed time," a playful jab at Lewis' youthful appearance.

Other Duke fans, according to Rick Lewis, chanted "How's your grandma?" Margie Lewis, Rick's mom and Tyler's grandmother, passed away on Feb. 1. Rick Lewis was at Thursday's game, sitting behind N.C. State's bench.

Tyler Lewis was a target of the Cameron Crazies, who chanted "Bilbo Baggins" and "Past your bedtime" at him Thursday night.

DURHAM—After beating N.C. State Thursday night, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said that he doesn't really do revenge games, and for good reason.

"If you’re always playing revenge that means you’ve lost," he said. "I don’t want to play many revenge games. You’ve got to learn to play because you want to win and you want to get better. Tonight, we did that."

Mason Plumlee and Duke got the better of C.J. Leslie and N.C. State in the rematch of the Triangle's two best teams. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

DURHAM—The first time Duke faced N.C. State, the Blue Devils were beginning their search for a new offensive identity.

It was clear Thursday night that they have found it, especially least early in the game, as the first-half cushion they built didn’t ran out in a 98-85 win. But the Wolfpack came close late in the game, making Duke work until the final minute.

“I don’t know how you couldn’t be proud of both teams tonight,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “That was great ACC basketball.”

Each team traded outstanding shooting halves, as Duke shot 61.3 percent from the field in the first half and led 58-37. N.C. State responded with a 65.5 percent performance to make the game interesting late.

Duke is focused on fixing the defensive errors that led to plays like this C.J. Leslie dunk. Credit: CHUCK LIDDY

Duke vs. N.C. State
When: 9 p.m.
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham
TV/Radio: WRAL-ACC Network/WKIX-102.9 FM

Lots of pregame reading for this one:

A look at what's happened to Duke and N.C. State since their first meeting

Joe Giglio on a potential case of voodoo that's been plaguing Triangle point guards of late

A few lessons Duke learned from the first go-around.

Here's a position-by-position breakdown, courtesy of esteemed colleague and N.C. State beat writer Joe Giglio.

Tale of the Tape

N.C. State can only hope Dave Doeren works as quickly in the win-loss column. The first-year coach made over his first recruiting class in less than two months on the job.

N.C. State signed 23 recruits and added two transfers on Signing Day on Wednesday, 13 of the 25 new players committed after Doeren was hired to replace Tom O'Brien on Dec. 1.

A 14th new player, running back Matt Dayes originally committed to O'Brien then re-upped with Doeren after re-opening his recruitment. Dayes, an all-state running back from Weston, Fla., chose the Wolfpack over Vanderbilt and could turn out to be the prize of the class.

Josh Hairston is doubtful for the N.C. State game due to an infection in his right arm. Credit: STEVE CANNON/AP

Duke reserve forward Josh Hairston, who has an infection in his right arm, is "doubtful" for Thursday's game against N.C. State, the school said Wednesday. Hairston cut his arm against Jan. 30 at Wake Forest and was able to play last Saturday at Florida State, but the infection became problematic in the past few days. His arm is currently in a sling.

Hairston has averaged 15.4 minutes per game through Duke's ACC slate, and he averages 2.8 points and 2.0 rebounds per game in that same span. It's his minutes that will be most missed, as Duke's frontcourt depth was already thin due to Ryan Kelly's right foot injury. Amile Jefferson has developed nicely since the Jan. 12 loss at N.C. State, but, should he get into foul trouble, Duke doesn't have another proven option.

N.C. State guard Lorenzo Brown is still not 100 percent and would need to make significant improvement to play on Thursday against Duke.

Brown missed last Saturday's 79-78 loss to Miami with an injured left ankle and has not been able to practice, as of Monday, since he suffered the injury on Jan. 29 at Virginia.

Brown's injury remains "day to day," Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried said.

Three Points from N.C. State's 79-78 loss to Miami:

1) What it takes

N.C. State played with a palpable intensity and desperation on Saturday in a game, arguably for the first time all season, it wasn't supposed to win. These two points are obviously connected.

N.C. State should be, as coach Mark Gottfried put it, heartbroken after Reggie Johnson's tip-in with 0.8 seconds left gave Miami a 79-78 win but the Wolfpack should not be discouraged.

RALEIGH — Reggie Johnson's tip-in with 0.8 seconds left gave Miami a 79-78 win over N.C. State and kept the first-place Hurricanes unbeaten (8-0) in ACC play.

N.C. State (16-6, 5-4 in the ACC) led by five points with 2 minutes to play but couldn't close out the resilient Canes, despite 16 points and five assists by point guard Tyler Lewis in place of the injured Lorenzo Brown.