National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Duke 76, N.C. State 52
When: 6:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 5, 2011
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina
Officials: # Ray Natili, # Bernard Clinton, # Karl Hess
Attendance: 9314

Nolan Smith scored a game-high 20 points as No. 5 Duke used a 21-2 first-half run to rout visiting North Carolina State 76-52 on Saturday.

Mason Plumlee had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the ACC-leading Blue Devils (21-2, 8-1 ACC), who improved to 6-1 in their past seven games and moved one game ahead of second-place North Carolina.

Richard Howell scored 18 points for N.C. State (12-11, 2-7 ACC), which lost for the seventh time in eight games.

Duke, which plays host to North Carolina on Wednesday, capped its season sweep of N.C. State with a dominating first half. The Blue Devils shot 64.5 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes - including 6 of 10 3-pointers - and forced 12 turnovers in building a 53-24 halftime advantage.

Leading 10-8, the Blue Devils scored the next 14 points in a surge that eventually staked them to a 31-10 advantage on Seth Curry’s jumper with 8:27 left.

Smith scored seven of his 18 first-half points during the run, and Plumlee added six. Duke closed the first half on with a 13-3 spurt.

Kyle Singler added 14 points for Duke.

N.C. State next plays Feb. 13 at Wake Forest.
Top Game Performances
 
N.C. State   Duke
Richard Howell 18 Scoring Nolan Smith 20
Lorenzo Brown 6 Assists Nolan Smith 7
Lorenzo Brown 9 Rebounds Mason Plumlee 12
DeShawn Painter 6 Free Throws Made Nolan Smith 6
Javier Gonzalez 2 Steals Mason Plumlee 2
DeShawn Painter 2 Blocks Mason Plumlee 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
N.C. State 52 39.6 1-10 9-18 16 31 3 3
Duke 76 41.9 7-14 17-32 13 42 6 7