NC State was behind the eight ball with regard to its hope to make a potential run into the NCAA Tournament before it went to Duke.

The reality is that the Pack still faces a challenging road even after its unexpected 84-82 win at Durham on Monday night.

The easiest part of the ACC schedule is behind NC State, which is what made its 2-5 start in league action even tougher to swallow. NCSU has to follow up its win at No. 17 Duke by going to No. 13 Louisville on Sunday. The Cardinals whacked Pittsburgh by 55 points on the road Tuesday evening, and the last time Louisville was at home it routed Clemson by 32 points.

Then the calendar turns to February, where the Pack will face perhaps the best four teams in the ACC thus far this year — Florida State on the road, UNC, Notre Dame and Virginia — among its eight games that month.

So can NC State follow up the Duke win and turn it into sustained momentum? Or will the upset of the Blue Devils prove to be only a brief stay of execution for the Pack’s March Madness hopes?

Here are four keys that may help dictate which avenue the Wolfpack takes.

In NC State’s three ACC wins, Smith is averaging 23.3 points, 7.7 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game while possessing a 2.3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Those three games include a triple-double against Virginia Tech (27 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds).

In the five losses, he is still producing — but not at the star level. He is averaging 18.6 points, 6.4 assists and 5.2 rebounds while having a 1.8-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He is shooting 43.8 percent in defeats compared to 48.9 percent in wins.

Not all the NC State losses are correlated to Smith’s performance. He nearly defeated Georgia Tech seemingly by himself by scoring 31 points on 10-of-21 shooting, but did not get much help from teammates. But for NC State to have a chance during a tough February, it will need the high-lottery pick version of Smith to show up.

Duke led 70-63 with 4:36 left in the game when junior guard Grayson Allen stood in the corner to shoot a three-pointer. ESPN play-by-play announcer Sean McDonough noted, “Allen, all day.”

Indeed, Allen was that wide open, but he still missed. Soon afterwards the Pack would go on an 8-0 run to take the lead.

That play though was emblematic of how there is an element of fool’s gold to NC State’s win. Duke did miss more than its fair share of open three-point shots. According to unofficial stats compiled by News and Observer reporter Joe Giglio, Duke had 19 uncontested three-pointers and made only five.

Duke is not a great three-point shooting team, making just 35.9 percent of its attempts, 12th out of 15 ACC teams, but Georgia Tech is an even worse three-point shooting team and made 10 of 16, many of them wide open, when they upset NCSU in Raleigh Jan. 15.

Currently, NC State ranks 14th in the ACC in scoring defense and KenPom’s defensive efficiency rating, 13th in turnovers forced, 12th in steals and rebounding defense, and 10th in field goal percentage defense.

Head coach Mark Gottfried acknowledged after NC State’s 93-88 home loss to Wake Forest that the Pack is not going to be a team that shuts down opponents, but perhaps the Duke game will give his squad a lift in that regard, if it is put into proper perspective.

With a little luck, NC State has the talent to win even at the toughest of venues. That was Duke’s first home loss this year, and NC State’s first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995.

With some tightening on the defense, the Wolfpack can make some more of their own luck and increase their margin of error.

NC State primarily relies on three players on the wing: fifth-year senior Terry Henderson, redshirt sophomore Torin Dorn and sophomore Maverick Rowan. It was thought to be a formidable trio and potential strength of the team, but in ACC play that has not been the case — yet.

Dorn’s minutes have fallen dramatically to 16.5 minutes per contest in ACC games. He is averaging just 6.1 points and shooting 45.0 percent in them. In non-conference action, Dorn averaged 14.9 points and shot 55.8 percent. He has connected of only 8 of 19 free throws in league play and has just five assists compared to 14 turnovers.

Henderson averaged 16.4 points per game in non-conference action while shooting 41.5 percent on three-pointers. Those numbers are down in ACC play. His scoring average has dipped to 11.5 points versus league opponents, and he is shooting just 31.5 percent on three-pointers.

Only Rowan has stepped up his offensive production, shooting 22 of 48 on three-pointers (45.8 percent) in conference action and averaging 12.3 points. A return to form from Henderson and Dorn would be a considerable lift to Gottfried’s desire of having a balanced offensive attack.

Both Omer Yurtseven and Ted Kapita have flashed in one game each during ACC play. Not ironically, those two games represent two-thirds of NC State’s win total through eight games.

Yurtseven had 12 points and 16 rebounds in the 79-74 home win over Pittsburgh Jan. 17, and Kapita had 14 points and 10 boards at Duke. Athletically, those two have the abilities to give NC State a spark in the paint.

One key for them will to play without fouling. Kapita fouled out in just 19 minutes of his breakout game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Yurtseven has had at least four fouls in the last three games and five of the eight ACC games.