No. 1 Duke clinches outright ACC title with 93-64 win at NC State

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Star freshman Cameron Boozer scored 26 points and top-ranked Duke shot 55.2% to beat N.C. State 93-64 on Monday night, securing the outright Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title.

The Blue Devils (28-2, 16-1) clinched the No. 1 seed for next week’s ACC Tournament with . Duke followed that by overwhelming the Wolfpack, both by hitting from outside against N.C. State’s zone and then getting into the paint area that .

Boozer finished 8 for 10 from the field and 9 for 11 from the foul line while grabbing nine rebounds — along with accumulating multiple long, thick scratches wrapping around his right shoulder amid physical second-half play.

Dame Sarr added 14 of his 16 points before halftime for Duke, which made 11 of 28 3-pointers.

The Blue Devils ran off a 9-0 burst to push to a double-digit lead late in the first half, followed by getting opposite corner 3s — Sarr from the right side, then Nik Khamenia from the left — for a 47-30 halftime lead.

Duke made its last five shots before halftime, then hit its first five out of the break to eliminate any lingering doubt, including a 3-pointer from Isaiah Evans that made it 56-32 at the 17:32 mark.

Darrion Williams had 17 points for the Wolfpack (19-11, 10-7), who continued a late-season slide in coach Will Wade's debut season. N.C. State shot 35.4% and made 7 of 29 3s en route to a fifth loss in six games, a run that includes a 41-point defeat at then-No. 24 Louisville and last week's 29-point loss at Virginia.

Duke: The Blue Devils can avenge their lone league loss when they host 17th-ranked North Carolina in Saturday's regular-season finale between the longtime rivals.

N.C. State: Stanford visits the Wolfpack on Saturday to close the regular season.

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