Duke clinched its second straight outright ACC regular-season title, while NC State lost for the fifth time in six games and is wobbling heading into the postseason.
Posted 3/3/2026, 12:54:23 AM Updated 3/3/2026, 6:03:58 AM
Duke routs NC State to secure second straight ACC regular-season title
RALEIGH — No. 1 Duke just keeps rolling.
And NC State needs to find a way to steady itself.
The visiting Blue Devils outclassed the Wolfpack 93-64 on Monday night at Lenovo Center to secure their second consecutive outright ACC regular-season title and demonstrate, once again, they are the class of the league.
“A joy to coach,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said of his squad which had to replace all five starters from last year’s Final Four team. “We talked about after Saturday, it's great to get a share [of the ACC title], like that means a lot, but let's get this thing outright.”
Duke (28-2 overall, 16-1 in the ACC) already had wrapped up the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament. Another blowout victory only strengthened the Blue Devils’ case for a top seed — and, potentially, the No. 1 overall seed — in the NCAA Tournament.
NC State seemed a lock for the Big Dance a few weeks ago, but the Wolfpack (19-11, 10-7) have lost five of six and are sinking toward the bubble with one regular season game left. First-year coach Will Wade’s first meeting with Duke left a mark.
"These guys are in a little different weight class than we are right now," Wade said.
Freshman star Cameron Boozer led Duke with 26 points and nine rebounds — and he picked up several nasty scratches on his right arm in the second half. Boozer made 8-of-10 field goals and 9-of-11 free throw attempts.
"The Wolfpack got me," Boozer joked after the game. “They got long claws.”
PHOTOS: Duke trounces NC State to secure second straight ACC regular-season title
What NC State didn’t have much of was answers for Boozer. And Wade looked everywhere, including his bookshelf. That’s where he found “The Genius of Desperation,” a book on NFL innovations. It inspired him to install a new zone defense to limit Boozer and protect his undersized frontcourt.
“They may have scored 120 if we played man the whole game,” Wade said of the zone defense. “We’re just going to run out of people. We were going to foul them every possession. And so out of desperation, we tried it. It worked for about eight minutes.”
The game was tied at 18 with 11 minutes left in the first half. Then Duke went on a 29-12 run to close the half. Boozer and center Patrick Ngongba (11 points, five rebounds) still did their damage — and put NC State’s centers into foul trouble — but the Blue Devils also found open corner 3s.
Dame Sarr had 16 points and made 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Isaiah Evans was 4-of-8 from distance.
Sarr, who also had eight rebounds and played his usual strong defense, matched a season high with his three 3-pointers. He’s 7-for-15 from 3 in the last four games, all wins, giving the Blue Devils another weapon. Sarr, from Italy, played in Spain previously.
“He’s worked his butt off every single day,” Scheyer said. “Really played to his strengths, really attacking, growing his game. And to see what he did tonight — eight rebounds. He wasn’t doing that in September.”
With Boozer as the fulcrum, the Duke team just fits. And though last year’s team had five NBA Draft picks, including No. 1 overall Cooper Flagg and No. 4 overall Kon Knueppel, this year’s squad may be poised to go further than the national semifinals.
Duke entered the game outsourcing its opponents by more than 20 points per game. The Blue Devils dominated Virginia, currently second in the ACC, by 26 on Saturday. In its previous two ACC games, Duke beat Notre Dame by 44 and Syracuse by 37.
In between, the Blue Devils proved their mettle by taking down No. 3 Michigan in an NCAA Tournament-worthy game in Washington, D.C., site of the East Regional.
It is a blueprint to emulate, Wade said.
“We got a long way to go to catch Duke,” Wade said. “That’s as good a team as I’ve played against. I’’m not just talking about their talent. The way they operate. They’re ruthlessly efficient on both ends. Coach Scheyer does an incredible job. Watch the way they run to the scorer’s table when they sub in. Everything is tight. It’s an impressive, impressive, impressive operation from top to bottom. And we’ve got some work to do. We kind of know where the standard is now.”
Darrion Williams led NC State with 17 points. He connected on three 3-pointers early, but the Wolfpack finished 7-of-29 from 3-point range.
NC State and Duke finish the regular season Saturday at home. Duke takes on rival North Carolina, which handed the Blue Devils’ their lone conference loss last month. NC State closes with Stanford in a game that now means a bit more for the Wolfpack, who have lost three games by at least 29 points since Feb. 9.
Add in blown late leads to Miami and Notre Dame in recent weeks, and NC State could have reason to worry come Selection Sunday. Wade said the team’s resume is good enough, but did allow that the regular-season finale means a bit more.
“We’re fine as of today, but we don’t want to lose Saturday,” Wade said. “I think it’ll get a lot trickier then.”
The ACC Tournament begins March 10 in Charlotte. NC State is likely to play March 11. Duke won’t play until the quarterfinals on March 12.
The Blue Devils have their eyes on an even bigger prize: a sixth national title and first under Scheyer. Duke has won three national titles in Indianapolis, the site of this year’s Final Four. In each of those title-winning seasons (1991, 2010 and 2015), Duke lost its regular season meeting with NC State in Raleigh.
Boozer and these Blue Devils are creating their own path.
“Their approach to show up as a young team every game with a competitive spirit, I just think is unique and high level,” Scheyer said. “And that’s been the most impressive part to me.”
Duke is No. 1 in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll for the second straight week, extending its all-time record with the program's 149th appearance in the top spot.
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