Duke vs. NC State: Score and Twitter Reaction for Wolfpack's Upset Win

The Duke Blue Devils are unbeaten no longer. The No. 2 team in the country fell, 87-75, to the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Sunday afternoon at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.  

As ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman noted, Duke's loss means only the Kentucky Wildcats and Virginia Cavaliers remain perfect this year:

Entering the game, the Blue Devils were one of the best offensive teams in the country. They averaged 84.4 points a game (tied for third) on 51.8 percent shooting (third). Duke also led the country in points per shot (1.48).

North Carolina State, meanwhile, was tied for 98th in scoring and tied for 70th in field-goal percentage. The Wolfpack were also tied for 74th in defensive efficiency, according to TeamRankings.com.

Coach Mark Gottfried spoke to reporters of the team's struggles after the Wolfpack's loss to Virginia.

"We had some breakdowns that just really hurt us," Gottfried said. "We had some offensive fouls called, we had couple where we didn't block out and they had a couple putbacks, two or three in a row. ... There's a lot of good things that we did. We just didn't do enough and didn't finish the game."

They finished on Sunday.

The two teams had a complete role reversal on Sunday, with Duke shooting 24-of-65 as a team, including 7-of-27 from behind the arc. Freshman forward Justise Winslow really struggled, making only three of his 13 attempts and scoring 10 points.

Freshman center Jahlil Okafor shot the ball well, going 8-of-11 for 23 points and 12 rebounds. ESPN's Fran Fraschilla praised Okafor for adjusting well to NC State's constant double-teams down low:

Sports Illustrated associate producer Ryan Krasnoo added that the Wolfpack did a good job of forcing the Blue Devils' supporting cast to win the game:

Offensively, the Wolfpack were a cool 33-of-60 from the floor and knocked down 10 of their 16 three-point attempts. Junior guard Trevor Lacey led the way with 21 points, while senior guard Ralston Turner added 16 points, with all of his made field goals coming from long range.

Duke led for much of the first half, jumping out to a 29-23 advantage with a little under six minutes remaining until halftime. From there, NC State went on a 14-4 run to grab a four-point lead, 37-33, heading into the locker room.

The Wolfpack's hot shooting continued into the second half, where their lead swelled to as many as 19 points.

CBS Sports pointed out how little Duke had played from behind entering this game:

After a stretch of nearly seven minutes in which they made just one field goal, the Blue Devils stormed back during the final five minutes and 28 seconds. Two free throws from Okafor sparked an 11-0 run that got them to within eight points, 72-64, with just over three minutes remaining.

Even worse for NC State, Lacey began cramping up, per Goodman:

Duke missed two three-pointers that really could've changed the complexion of the game, and NC State sophomore forward BeeJay Anya slammed home a monster putback dunk with 2:26 left. It gave the Wolfpack a double-digit lead once again and energized the Raleigh crowd.

CBS Sports' Seth Davis mentioned that shortly thereafter, Winslow fouled out, thus closing the door ever so slightly on the Blue Devils' comeback bid:

Duke cut the deficit to as little as seven points but never looked likely to overcome NC State late in the game.

The Blue Devils play the Miami Hurricanes at home Tuesday and then hit the road Saturday, when they'll meet the fifth-ranked Louisville Cardinals. Duke fans won't be happy with this defeat, but a win over Louisville will make everything right again.

This is by far North Carolina State's biggest win of the season, and it bears watching whether the Wolfpack will build off of this victory. They only have one conference loss so far, which came to unbeaten Virginia. They get the North Carolina Tar Heels next at home Wednesday. A win there could make NC State a dark-horse ACC title contender.

Note: Stats are courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.