RALEIGH - After shooting his way out of the starting lineup earlier in the season, Jeff Capel might have shot his way back into the starting rotation against N.C. State. But for Capel, who has already bottomed out this season, just winning is good enough.
Capel netted 11 of Duke's last 17 points and 16 of his team-high 25 in the second half to key Duke's 70-55 victory over N.C. State (8-7, 0-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) on Tuesday night. The senior scored off an array of drives and long jumpers as he hit four key shots down the stretch for the Blue Devils (15-4, 4-2), which held off a pesky Wolfpack team.
"Jeff was just too tough tonight," said Duke sophomore guard Trajan Langdon, who chipped in 16 points for the Blue Devils. "He took over the game in the last eight minutes. He was in the zone."
In the locker room following the game, Capel recalled how low he had fallen early this season, as low as he had been in four years at Duke.
"I remember when nobody wanted to talk to me," Capel said. "I thought there'd be a day like this. I knew things would get better, and I knew we'd be better for it.
"It felt good to hit those shots, but I no longer judge how good I feel by how well I play. All that matters is us winning."
Capel wasn't the only Blue Devil who got in the zone. Freshman Mike Chappell, celebrating his 19th birthday, played only three minutes, but he managed to score perhaps the game's most crucial points.
After Langdon and Capel knocked down back to back three-pointers, Langdon's from the left wing and Capel's from the right corner, the Blue Devils had their largest lead of the game to that point at 45-35 with 15:29 left. But the Wolfpack refused to wilt, making one last run to cut Duke's lead to two points with under 11 minutes remaining.
Chappell, who up until that point had spent the entire game on the bench, stepped right into the action and knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner to put Duke back up by five. Two possesions later, after Wolfpack guard Jeremy Hyatt had hit a 12-foot turnaround jumper to pull N.C. State within three points, Chappell drove, banked in a runner and got fouled. His free throw put Duke up by six points with 8:56 to go. The Wolfpack would get no closer.
"I just wanted to help the team in anyway possible when I got in there," Chappell said. "Sitting on the bench, you just want to get into the game."
Duke was able to stay fresh because of its depth-10 players saw action-and that depth wore down N.C. State. The Wolfpack missed a number of jump shots in the last 10 minutes as their legs grew tired and they were forced to play catchup down the stretch.
All told, Duke's reserves played 59 minutes to N.C. State's 27. Even more impressive, Duke got 34 points and seven rebounds from those minutes. The Wolfpack got zero points and no boards from their bench.
"Anybody can start and score on this team," Capel said. "We have guys who have solidified the first four starting spots, but anybody on this team can start in that fifth spot."
All 10 Blue Devils who played against the Wolfpack have started at some point this season.
Duke won its fourth stright contest and second consecutive ACC game, yet it was anything but easy against the Wolfpack.
"We feel great about the win," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I mean N.C. State played their hearts out; I thought we did too or else we would have lost."
With the win, Duke has now won five of six games at N.C. State. The 10th-ranked Blue Devils trailed only twice in the game as they kept the Wolfpack winless in conference play.
"Nobody in this solar system wants to score more points than their opponent like we do," N.C. State coach Herb Sendek said. "We very much want to have more points than the team we're playing at the end of the game.... No matter which type of external forces or questions are raised, I can not ask more of our team than they're giving. Those guys are pouring out their hearts."
Try as it might, Duke could not run away with the game in the first half. Three times the Blue Devils put together runs of 7-0, 8-0 and 6-0, only to have N.C. State jump back with runs of its own.
Duke led by as many as nine points twice, but a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Wolfpack guard C.C. Harrison sent the Blue Devils into the locker room at halftime with only a five-point lead.
"Every time we tried to make a run tonight, they'd come right back at us," Blue Devil center Greg Newton said.
The Blue Devils were on fire from three-point range in the first stanza, knocking down 6-of-10 shots. Langdon hit three of them and Capel came off the bench to hit two, as the duo both ended the half with a team-high nine points.
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