Preview: Duke (23-6, 14-4) wraps up ACC road schedule at NC State (17-12, 9-9)

And just like that head coach Jon Scheyer's second season at the helm of the Duke Basketball program has begun to wind down.

Duke will hit the road on Monday night to face North Carolina State in the program's final away game of the regular season in what begins the last week of the ACC regular season.

The Blue Devils head to Raleigh on the heels of a dominant win over the third place team in the ACC, Virginia, after beating the Cavaliers by 25 in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday night in a game that wasn't as close as the final score.

All of that positive momentum will be needed if Scheyer's team hopes to reverse a trend of poor performances at PNC Arena dating back to his playing days.

Ahead of the match-up, here's what you need to know...

GAME INFORMATION

Opponent: North Carolina State Wolfpack
Conference: Atlantic Coast Conference
Streak: Lost 2

Game Time: 7:00 PM EST
Venue: PNC Arena

Steam: WatchESPN
Listen: Blue Devil Sports Network from IMG Learfield College (David Shumate and John Roth)
Sirius/XM: 81/81

MEET THE OPPONENT

Potential Starters:

G DJ Horne (6-2, 180, Gr.)
G Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, Gr.)
F Michael O'Connell (6-2, 195, Gr.)
F DJ Burns (6-9, 275, Gr.)
F Mohamed Diarra (6-10, 215, Jr.)

Key Reserves:

G Jayden Taylor (6-4, 195, Jr.)
C Dennis Parker (6-6, 205, Fr.)
G Ben Middlebrooks (6-10, 240, Jr.)

Individual Statistical Leaders:

Points: 17.6 (Horne)
Rebounds: 6.5 (Diarra)
Assists: 3.0 (Beekman)
FG Pct: .510 (Middlebrooks)
3pt FG Pct: .431 (Horne)
FT Pct: .840 (O'Connell)

Team Statistical Profile:

Points Per Game: 76.0
Rebounds Per Game: 35.2
Rebounding Margin: -1.2
Assists Per Game: 12.8
Turnovers Per Game: 9.6
FG Pct: .443
3pt Pct: .345
FT Pct: .728

THE SERIES

Monday night's game will mark the 255th all-time meeting between Duke and NC State with the Blue Devils owning a 154-103 advantage in games played to date.

Duke has won four of the last five games, but has struggled tremendously in Raleigh of late. The Blue Devils have lost six of the last nine games played at the PNC Center since 2010, and most of those games haven't been close.

Duke lost by 24 in 2023, by 22 in 2020, by 11 in 2018, by 12 in 2015, by eight in 2013, and by 14 in 2010. And while the Blue Devils were unranked for last season's blowout loss on the Wolfpack's home court, the other games saw Duke ranked 6th, 2nd, 2nd, 1st, and 7th in the country. In all but the 2013 game, NC State was unranked, and yet the Wolfpack averaged nearly 88 points per game in those victories.

All-times Duke is 9-8 in games played at PNC Arena, but more than any other venue in the ACC, the Wolfpack's home court has been a difficult place for the Blue Devils to play.

KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH

Former Arizona State (by way of Illinois State) standout DJ Horne has been the team's best player this season, leading the Wolfpack in scoring, steals, and three-point percentage. Over the team's last four games he's averaging 20.0 points per night, but has shot over 50% r better from the floor just once in that span which has featured three losses. When Horne is hot, NC State is tough to beat, and he's been very good this month, averaging nearly 24 points per game in February which will have him at the top of Duke's scouting report.

Horne lines up alongside another graduate transfer in the form of former Butler guard Jayden Taylor, that program's leading scorer a season ago. The 6-foot-4 Taylor will pressure Duke's backcourt with his ability to get to the rim and make plays at the basket. He ranks second on the team in scoring (12.2) and has been an average three point shooter this year, hitting .348 from the perimeter. Of late Taylor has been very good, hitting for 17.3 points per game over the last four.

The third guard to watch is veteran Casey Morsell who averaged 12 points per game last season and who is producing at a similar level this year. The 6-foot-3 senior is a nice complementary guard who will score in a variety of ways, but who is also a streaky and sometimes unreliable three point shooter (.291). Throughout the month of February, Morsell has been hit or miss for the Pack, reaching double figures just three times in eight games.

Inside the Wolfpack utilize another graduate student, though this time not a transfer in DJ Burns. The 6-foot-9, 275 pound fifth year player who has figured out how to leverage his frame in the paint to score at an efficient clip. When Burns is able to get the ball deep in the paint, he's able to create space and use a soft touch to score more often than not. Even so, Burns is limited because he's foul prone, averaging 4.3 fouls per 40 minutes and only playing around 24 minutes per night. He's also not an overly effective rebounder for a guy his size, averaging just 3.9 per game.

NC State makes up for Burns' lack of rebounding by inserting France's Mohamed Diarra as a second big. Yet another transfer, this one from Missouri, the 6-foot-10 redshirt junior counters Burns' earthbound approach with the ability to block shots and run to the rim. Despite playing less than half the game on average the season, Diarra leads the team in rebounding at 6.5 per game. At 6-foot-10 he's also capable from the perimeter, hitting 35 percent of his attempts on the year. Over the last six games he's pulled in 9.3 rebonds per game while seeing his minutes jump to 31.6 per night.

PREDICTION

Raleigh hasn't been kind to Duke of late, but it's also exceedingly rare for the Blue Devils to play at PNC Arena late in the season. As we head into the final week of the regular season, Monday's game matches two teams trending in opposite directions. Duke has been playing well and comes off a dominant performance against third place Virginia on Saturday whereas NC State has lost of its last seven games including a nine point setback against rival North Carolina over the weekend in a game they led by eight at the half. Much of the Wolfpack's issues on Saturday focused on an offensive lull that saw NC State miss 15 straight shots over an 11 minute period in which the Wolfpack were out-scored 32-9. So what does it all mean for Monday? It's hard to say given the history but NC State's defense has struggled of late, allowing 82 points per game over the last two weeks. Assuming the Blue Devils can utilize Kyle Filipowski against the less mobile NC State big men while keeping DJ Horne in check, Duke should be able to reverse the narrative that Raleigh so often brings.