NC State has made the Final Four for the fourth time in school history.
NC State pitched a “near perfect” game in the second half to pull away from Duke for a surprisingly easy 76-64 win Sunday in Dallas, Texas. The Wolfpack joined their 1950, 1974 and 1983 squads in reaching the Final Four.
The eras might be different, where the NIT Tournament was a factor in the 1950s, or freshman were ineligible or slam dunks weren’t allowed in the 1970s. Then there have been changes with the shot clock and three-point length along the way. The 2024 NC State squad will always be known for taking nine transfers — eight still active on the team — and having them come together for one common goal in a new era of NCAA basketball.
“I think it's pretty cool that none of us played together last year,” said NC State senior point guard Michael O’Connell, who transferred in from Stanford. “Since the beginning of the season, we've been able to build this chemistry and build this bond and friendship, especially off the court.”
NCSU showed its win over Duke in the ACC Tournament was no fluke with another strong performance against its Tobacco Road rival to improve to 26-14 on the season. The Blue Devils finished 27-9.
NC State will take a nine-game winning streak to play Purdue and 7-foot-4, 300-pound Zach Edey in the Final Four semifinal at 6:09 p.m. Saturday evening on TBS at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. Connecticut plays Alabama in the other semifinal.
The Boilermakers defeated Tennessee 72-66 on Sunday, with Edey scoring 40 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. Purdue last played in the Final Four in 1980.
NC State coach Kevin Keatts reflected about how this team has reached a chunk of their goals and changed perceptions of the program in such a short period of time. The players never lost faith in what could be achieved.
“At the beginning of the year, we talked about what are your goals, and I think to a man everyone said we want to win the ACC,” Keatts said. “Check. What's your other goal? It's obviously go on and compete for a National Championship, and we're still alive for that opportunity.
“Our school deserves it. Our players have really worked hard. The fans deserve it. We've done a really good job.”
The players have made it easy on the coaches during the nine-game winning streak, with each game having the season on the line.
“They're tremendous,” Keatts said. “You ought to see us every day. They make it easy for me to wake up every morning and come to practice and work hard with them because of who they are as personalities.
“I would say this, I have learned more basketball from these guys than I learned in my entire career because they know how to work. They're great people. They work hard.”
NC State shot 19 of 26 for 73.1 percent in the second half, with four of the misses coming on three-pointers. Duke shot 1 of 10 at one point late in the second half and was just 33.3 percent in the second half.
NC State fed the ball over and over to 6-9, 330-plus senior center D.J. Burns, and he couldn’t be stopped in the post. Burns went 13 of 19 from the field and had 21 of his 29 points in the second half.
Keatts said the big thing for Burns’ ability to score so well was not getting double-teamed.
“It's changed the way I look at post guys now,” Keatts said. “There's probably only three of those in the country, and I know we're going to play a really good one [Edey] next week at some point.”
Duke coach Jon Scheyer said one of the keys was that NC State senior guard D.J. Horne added 18 points to complement Burns. He also thought Duke’s defense was affected by the team’s struggles on offense.
“We couldn't let Horne get going also,” Scheyer said. “I think there were some breakdowns there that I'll have to go back and watch and see. You can't let them both get going.:
The first half was nothing like the second for NC State’s offense, but the defense kept the team in the game.
NC State struggled offensively the entire first half, but the good news for the Wolfpack was that only Duke freshman guard Jared McCain could score for the Blue Devils.
NCSU went an abysmal 9 of 34 from the field for 26 percent, and was a shocking 1 of 11 on layup attempts. Duke had four blocked shots in the first half.
Outside of Burns, the offensive flow was a struggle. That took a hit when Burns picked up his second foul and missed seven minutes of the first half.
McCain was aggressive and got to the free-throw line to have 13 points in the first 20 minutes. Duke went 6 of 18 from the field for a combined 14 points for the players who weren’t McCain.
“I talked about, ‘Hey, if you can come out and duplicate your defense in the second half, we will find a way to score,’” Keatts said. “We were great in the second half too.
“It's a miracle run, but we're not surprised. We don't come into this tournament saying, ‘Hey, let's just try to be here.’ We came here to win it, and we did. Now we have to move on to our next stage.”
The second half proved to be similar in that Duke’s offense relied too much on McCain, who finished with 19 of his 32 points in the second half. Sophomore power forward Kyle Filipowski fouled out with 11 points and nine rebounds.
NC State did a great job of limiting sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor, who went a miserable 0 of 9 from the field, and power forwards Mark Mitchell and Sean Stewart had a combined eight points and eight rebounds.
NC State will have a power-packed weekend with the spring football game at 2 p.m. Saturday, and then the Wolfpack women’s team will play in the Final Four against South Carolina next Friday, and followed by the men’s game Saturday.
“It’s definitely big for our program,” Horne said. “Seeing the girls have success definitely motivates us. I would say we worry about our team right now and just trying to make the best of what we got going right now and taking each game at a time.”
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