(CNN) North Carolina voters cast ballots for their next governor three weeks ago. But still, somehow, a winner has yet to be declared and neither candidate has conceded.

Roy Cooper, the state's Democratic attorney general, has seen a narrow lead grow during that time. According to his campaign, he's now 10,000 votes ahead.

Meanwhile, Gov. Pat McCrory, the embattled Republican incumbent who faced fallout this year for supporting the state's controversial "bathroom bill, " has refused to concede the race because he wants a recount.

The reason, he's said, is voting irregularities that could change the final outcome of the race.

Recount in the Research Triangle

Indeed, McCrory won a small victory Wednesday -- keeping his fading hopes for re-election alive -- when the Republican-controlled North Carolina State Board of Elections Wednesday ordered a machine recount of more than 90,000 ballots in Durham County. The majority of those voters in a deep-blue county, located in the heart of the Research Triangle, had cast ballots for Cooper.

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"What harm would it do to scan these votes and count them so no that one campaign is going to think why wouldn't they count those votes?" election board member James Baker, a Republican, asked at the hearing.

Russell Peck, campaign manager for McCrory, said in a statement that the governor is pleased that the election board has granted the request.

"We will respect whatever the results show," Peck said. "We ask that this is done immediately."

Trey Nix, Cooper's campaign manager, seemed unfazed by the recount's approval. Responding to the board's decision, Nix said Cooper remained "confident" that the end results will continue to be in favor of Cooper.

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"It is wrong that Governor McCrory continues to waste taxpayer money with false accusations and attempts to delay and that the Republican controlled Board of Elections did not follow the law," Nix said in a statement. "However, Roy Cooper's lead has grown to over 10,000 votes and after a partial recount of 6 precincts in one county, the outcome of the election will be the same."

When will North Carolina know?

If Cooper does in fact have a 10,000-vote lead, McCrory would not benefit from a mandatory statewide recount, which his campaign had hoped for in recent weeks. CNN affiliate WTVD reports that 94 of the state's 100 counties have finished counting ballots.

"It's time to accept the will of the people," North Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Patsy Keever told WTVD.</s>GREENSBORO, N.C.—Khy Kabellis scored 15 points off the bench for North Dakota State in the team's 85-67 victory over North Carolina A&T in men's basketball on Friday, Dec. 2.</s>BLOOMINGTON — OG Anunoby scored 16 points, James Blackmon Jr. had 14 and Robert Johnson added 11 Wednesday night, leading No. 13 Indiana past No. 3 North Carolina 76-67 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

The Hoosiers (5-1) have won two straight since last week's stunning loss to little-known IPFW.

In that game, Johnson struggled, Blackmon injured his knee and Anunoby tried to play through an illness. This time, they helped Indiana start fast and fend off the Tar Heels' second-half charges to close it out. Anunoby was injured at the end of the game and needed help to get to the locker room.

North Carolina (7-1), which trailed for a total of 16 seconds during its four-game trip to Hawaii, never led and spent most of the game trailing by double digits.

Indiana jumped to a 17-7 lead, extended the margin to 28-11 and never allowed the Tar Heels to get closer than 61-57 with 4:52 to play.

The Tar Heels were led by Justin Jackson with 21 points and Kennedy Meeks with 10. North Carolina was 13 of 22 on free throws.

North Carolina: The curse of No. 3 continues. With Kansas losing on opening night, Indiana losing last week and now the Tar Heels falling, three of the four teams ranked No. 3 this season have lost in their first appearance in that spot.

Indiana: Coach Tom Crean promised to fix the flaws from last week's loss. He did, and the Hoosiers delivered one of the most notable wins of his Indiana tenure. Now the Hoosiers must prove they can keep playing this way over the long haul.

North Carolina: The Tar Heels host Radford on Sunday. After three straight games against Power-5 conference teams, the Tar Heels will try to rebound against a Big South foe.

Indiana: The Hoosiers host SIU-Edwardsville on Friday. With two top-five wins on the resume, the Hoosiers begin a stretch of three straight games against lower level opponents.
Recounts begin in North Carolina.