DURHAM, N.C. – Seth Curry scored 21 of his season-high 26 points in the second half, and No. 5 Duke rallied from 20 points down with 11:33 to play and beat North Carolina State 78-73 on Thursday night.

Freshman Austin Rivers added 16 points on 4-of-13 shooting for the Blue Devils (22-4, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). They used late rallies of 13-0 and 20-3 to erase that huge deficit and keep pace with No. 8 North Carolina and No. 20 Florida State atop the league standings.

Lorenzo Brown scored 19 points to lead the Wolfpack (18-8, 7-4). With Duke up 76-73, Brown missed a contested 3-pointer from the corner with about seven seconds left, and Curry hit two free throws with 2.2 seconds to go.

Alex Johnson scored a season-high 13 points, C.J. Leslie added 12 and Scott Wood had 10 for N.C. State, which led 61-41 before the Blue Devils finally showed some life.

They started the comeback by reeling off 11 straight points, with Curry hitting three free throws and Andre Dawkins knocking down a 3-pointer. Curry’s jumper with 8:44 left made it 61-52 — the first time Duke was within single digits since midway through the first half.

After DeShawn Painter put N.C. State up 68-56 with 6:10 left, the Blue Devils came up with their final surge.

Rivers started it with a 3-pointer and scored nine points during the burst. His deep 3-pointer with 2½ minutes left gave Duke its first lead, 72-71.

Mason Plumlee added 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who denied the Wolfpack their first victory at Cameron since 1995 — when Coach Mike Krzyzewski was out following back surgery. N.C. State hasn’t beaten a Krzyzewski-coached team in Durham since 1988.

(7) MICHIGAN STATE 69, (15) WISCONSIN 55: Draymond Green had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Keith Appling also scored 20 points for the Spartans (21-5, 10-3 Big Ten) in a win over the Badgers (19-7, 8-5) at East Lansing, Mich.

(20) FLORIDA STATE 48, VIRGINIA TECH 47: Michael Snaer’s 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left capped an 11-2 rally that gave the Seminoles (18-7, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) a win over the Hokies (14-12, 3-8) at Tallahassee, Fla.

SOUTHERN MAINE 71, WENTWORTH 60: Alex Kee scored 18 points and keyed a decisive first-half run as the Huskies (11-13) beat the Leopards (15-9) at Boston.

Kee had eight points during a 14-1 surge that put the Huskies ahead 21-6 nine minutes into the game. Southern Maine led 37-19 at the half and was comfortably ahead the rest of the way.

Jeremy Jackson added 14 points.

SOUTHERN MAINE CC 71, NORTHERN ESSEX CC 61: Josh Mackie scored 26 points, including seven 3-pointers, as the Seawolves (11-17) closed their home schedule with a win over the Knights at South Portland.

Emmanuel Donaldson added 15 points and Chance Baldino had 11 for the Seawolves, who built a 37-27 lead in the first half.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

(6) MIAMI 73, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 61: Riquna Williams scored 17 of her 24 points in the first half to help the Hurricanes (23-3, 12-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat the Wolfpack (15-12, 4-9) at Raleigh, N.C.

ALABAMA 77, (7) KENTUCKY 75: Jasmine Robinson scored 17 points and the Crimson Tide (12-15, 2-11 Southeastern Conference) held off a big rally by the visiting Wildcats (21-5, 10-3) for their first win against a ranked team in more than nine years.

(8) MARYLAND 73, VIRGINIA 56: Tianna Hawkins scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and he Terrapins (22-4, 9-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) took charge early against the Cavaliers (18-9, 6-7) at Charlottesville, Va.

(9) OHIO STATE 75, INDIANA 54: Tayler Hill scored 27 points and the Buckeyes (23-3, 10-3 Big Ten) handed the visiting Hoosiers (5-21, 0-13) their 13th straight loss despite the absence of Big Ten scoring leader Samantha Prahalis.

(10) DELAWARE 89, HOFSTRA 79: Elena Delle Donne had a season-high 42 points, including the 2,000th of her career, and added 14 rebounds and six blocked shots to lead the Blue Hens (23-1, 14-0 Colonial Athletic Association) past the Pride (17-8, 9-5) at Hempstead, N.Y.