The Duke Blue Devils advanced to the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) Tournament once again. They eliminated the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the semifinals.

NBA draft prospect Jabari Parker and ACC Player of the Year T.J. Warren kept trading baskets in a showdown of the ACC's top two scorers. Parker is a freshman while Warren is a sophomore.

In the game, Parker scored 20 and Warren had 21, but the game was decided on defense as the Wolfpack relied more on their star player and lost 75-67 when he was eventually shut down on the second half.

Parker received more help. Rasheed Sulaimon added 16 points Rodney Hood had 14 points and keyed the defensive effort against Warren.

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, or Coach K assessed the game (quotes from AP): "Rodney did a good job on him just to keep him to 21. You can overcoach, and we overcoached our preparation. He was doing what we asked him to do, and it wasn't working, and he said, 'Coach, let me just play him my normal way.' That was better."

Duke still has a long shot at garnering a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if they win the ACC championship and the other higher ranked teams flounder. Duke is currently ranked No.7 in the National AP poll.

For NC State though, this loss eliminated them from a chance at a sure ticket to the Big Dance. NC State coach Mark Gottfried appeals to the selection committee: "I hope they take a look at our team and see how much better we are than we were at the beginning.  If you win at Pitt, beat Syracuse and beat Duke, hell, you're about a Final Four team then. I think we showed that we certainly belong in the field of 68."

The game had a critical turn when Duke pulled away in the second half behind a string of Wolfpack turnovers. 'Cat' Barber, a Wolfpack guard, described the stifling Duke defense: "I'm not going to force it to get past two people. They just did a great job of defending. ... They just kept their composure throughout the game."

Coach K gives a short post-mortem: "First half, neither team could stop one another. In the second half, we just played better defense."

Duke moves on to its 31st championship game appearance and first since 2011.