Duke advanced to its second consecutive ACC Tournament championship game with an 83-68 thrashing of N.C. State at the Charlotte Coliseum on Saturday.
Sophomore center Elton Brand collected his 16th double-double of the year and freshman Corey Maggette, added 24 points, 17 in the first half. Maggette was starting for injured Blue Devils star Trajan Langdon, whose sprained foot suffered in the Blue Devils quarterfinal rout of Maryland on Thursday kept him out of the lineup for the first time all year.
Maggette showed no signs of being nervous in his first career start, scoring Duke's first seven points. Brand, meanwhile, struggled, missing his first five shots.
The Wolfpack hung around by making 6-of-10 three-pointers in the first half, including one by point guard Justin Gainey as the buzzer sounded. Despite Gainey's shot, State still trailed 43-35 at halftime.
A technical foul on Duke point guard William Avery (the Blue Devils' second of the afternoon) allowed N.C. State a 3-point play that kept it in the game. But when Wolfpack big men Damon Thornton and Ron Kelley got in foul trouble, there was nobody left to contest Brand, a leading National Player of the Year candidate, underneath.
During one stretch, the Blue Devils went on a 16-3 run over 3:59, aided by three Wolfpack turnovers. In succession, Brand dunked, Avery scored a layup, Chris Carawell threw down a dunk, Maggette added another layup and Brand finished the onslaught with a monster jam. The Devils made 11 of their first 12 shots from the floor in the second half.