Backyard brawl. It’s something special when close neighbors meet for local bragging rights. Tomorrow NC State’s men’s basketball team will hop on a bus and make the 25-mile trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium to play Duke.
It will be the 252nd meeting in a rivalry that dates back to 1912, when it was Trinity College against State College.
It might be tempting to look at State’s pedestrian 9-8 record and see the Wolfpack as little more than an annoying speed bump for Duke.
Duke assistant coach Nolan Smith says think again.
“One thing I told our guys is that, if they are foolish enough to go look at their record and think they are not good, they are wrong,” Smith said on a Friday media Zoom.