Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball’s 88-69 loss at No. 12 Duke Monday evening in Durham, N.C.

The dam broke with 14:13 left in the game. The contest was tied 46-46 at that point when, with the shot clocking ticking down under 10 seconds, Duke sophomore guard Tre Jones got free on the left wing for a three-point shot. Jones nailed the jumper to put the Blue Devils up for good.

Little did people know at the time, but that was the beginning of a 10-minute Duke tsunami that wiped away NC State.

Even NC State fans have to agree these were incredible dunks:

He was far from the best player on the court, and he only played 14 minutes, but walk-on senior forward Justin Robinson may have saved Duke in the first half. The Blue Devils were off to a miserable start when Robinson stepped into the game.

NC State led 20-12, and Duke was somewhat fortunate it was that close, before Robinson made back-to-back three-pointers (the second a fortunate bounce off a brick). Before Monday, Robinson had been 3 for 13 on threes this year and 13 of 39 from long distance in his career.

Then with the game tied 23-23, Robinson got free for a dunk to put the Blue Devils up for the first time all season on the Wolfpack.

Without that lift from Robinson, who knows if NC State would have been able to put some distance at halftime on Duke.

He would finish the game with 10 points, the first time all year he has been in double digits, and six rebounds.

The first play that Duke went into the 2-3 zone defense against NC State, Wolfpack fifth-year senior guard C.J. Bryce made a three-pointer to put the Pack up 32-25. Prior to Duke switching to the zone, NC State had made 12 of 22 shots from the field, including 2 of 6 three-pointers.

For the rest of the night, the Blue Devils stayed in that defense, and NC State shot 14 of 38 overall (36.8 percent) and 3 of 15 on threes. Whether that was the result of Duke’s defense bothering NC State or the Pack just missing shots, the bottom line is State went cold.

While some may want to talk about the offense going cold against the zone, you also need to get stops in basketball. What happened Monday was the Pack defense failing for an epically long period of time to get one in the second half.

Between Duke freshman guard Wendell Moore missing a jumper and Pack sophomore forward Jericole Hellems grabbing the rebound with 15:36 left and NCSU redshirt freshman center Manny Bates making a steal with 5:16 remaining, NC State failed to get a single defensive rebound or force a turnover on defense.

During that stretch, Duke went 10 of 13 from the field, including 1 of 2 on threes, grabbed offensive rebounds on all three of its misses and connected on 11 of 14 free throws. At one point, Duke had four straight fast break layups or dunks. (Rebounding and transition points were huge factors in this game as detailed below in other stats of note.)

As a result, the game went from NC State leading 46-44 to trailing 77-59, or in other terms Duke went on a monster 33-13 run.

NC State did not need much help from Duke in the first game between the two teams, when the Pack won by 22 points in Raleigh. However, the Blue Devils added to their misery by going 10 of 22 at the free throw line while the Pack made 16 of 21. It was one of just six times in ACC play that NC State outscored its opponent at the line.

On Monday, the Blue Devils were a sparkling 23 of 27 at the line, or 85.2 percent, while NC State was just 12 of 19. Duke’s ability to make free throws played a large role in them being able to pull away during that 10-minute stretch in the second half.

NC State was whistled for 20 fouls in the game, with five of them belonging to Bates. In two games against Duke this year, Bates has fouled out both times and played a combined 21 minutes, going 1 for 1 from the field for two points, grabbing four rebounds and blocking three shots.

Here we keep track of the scoring between each official timeout to help give an idea of the game flow:

First half

20:00-15:58: NC State 7, Duke 4

15:58-11:17: NC State 8, Duke 6

11:17-7:53: Duke 11, NC State 8

7:53-3:55: NC State 9, Duke 4

3:55-Halftime: Duke 13, NC State 4

Second half

20:00-15:35: NC State 10, Duke 6

15:35-11:52: Duke 11, NC State 3

11:52-7:20: Duke 16, NC State 7

7:20-3:50: Duke 8, NC State 7

3:50-Final: Duke 9, NC State 6

NC State is 18-12 overall and 9-10 in the ACC, and Duke is 24-6 and 14-5. Duke leads the all-time series 148-102.

The Pack is 5-8 away from home this year, including 5-7 in true road contests. NC State is 10-6 in night games (played after 6 p.m.), 9-6 in weekday games (but that includes 6-0 on Wednesdays) and 2-9 when trailing at halftime.

The game was broadcast on ESPN. During the season, we’ll keep track of how NC State does on the various networks.

- ACC Network Extra: 3-0

- ESPN+: 1-0

- RSN: 4-2

- ESPN2: 3-2

- ACC Network: 5-4

- ESPN: 2-4

We will also track NC State’s records by month:

- November: 5-2

- December: 5-1

- January: 4-4

- February: 4-4

- March: 0-1

• Duke won the battle in the paint, 46-36.

• The Blue Devils had a huge edge in fast break points, 25-6. The was eight points more than the previous worst margin in fast break points for NC State in a game this year.

• Duke’s bench outscored State’s reserves 38-17.

• NC State won the turnover margin 12-11, and it had an advantage in points off turnovers, 16-14.

• Duke crushed the battle on the boards, 46-27 overall and 16-9 on the offensive glass. It was the worst rebounding margin loss of the year for NC State in a game this year. The Blue Devils also beat the Pack on second-chance points, 15-8.

• Defensively, NC State had three blocks and nabbed seven steals. Duke had six blocks and added eight steals.

• NC State’s largest lead was eight points and Duke’s was 19. NC State led for 17:41 and Duke for 16:38. The game was tied for 5:41.

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