For the first time in more than a decade, someone other than Duke or North Carolina was the preseason favorite to win the ACC Conference.
Behind an imposing front court of CJ Leslie and Richard Howell, one of the best point guards in the country in Lorenzo Brown, and a potentially great freshman class led by McDonald’s All Americans Rodney Purvis, Tyler Lewis, and TJ Warren, NC State began the ’12-’13 season with tons of promise in hopes of returning the program to once great levels previously achieved by the late coach Valvano nearly 3 decades ago.
But after a bumpy early season marred by 2 early losses, inconsistent play by potential NBA Lottery pick Leslie, and the NCAA taking their time on ruling that prized freshman was finally eligible to participate in team activities, the Wolfpack are clearly back in the national title picture after dealing the previously unbeaten Duke Blue Devils their first loss of the season 84-76, this Saturday in Raleigh.
Behind 25 points from Leslie and a relentless effort from Howell, who collected 18 rebounds to go with 16 points against NCAA POY candidate Mason Plumlee of Duke, and 13 assists from junior PG Lo Brown, the #20 ranked Pack took advantage of the Blue Devils missing injured forward Ryan Kelly and a late injury to Seth Curry to upset the nation’s #1 ranked team.
Duke was led by Curry’s 22 points and Plumlee’s 15 points, 11 boards, and 4 steals but was outscored by the Wolfpack 43-37 in the decisive 2nd half, leading to mayhem…
NC State Fans Rush The Court After Beating #1 Duke:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
