NC State seniors D.J. Burns, D.J. Horne and Casey Morsell addressed the media Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Pa.
The Wolfpack enjoyed a miracle run of five wins in five games to win the ACC Tournament and qualified as a No. 12 seed for the NCAA Tournament. The Big Dance will always be everything in college basketball, and NC State has a favorable matchup against No. 6-seeded Texas Tech at approximately 9:40 p.m. tonight on CBS.
Question: Obviously you guys were a high seed in the ACC tournament, ended up winning it and now you're here. Do you feel like a chip on your shoulder coming into the NCAA Tournament, which you guys weren't necessarily in the conversation for heading into the conference tournament?
D.J. Horne: “I felt like coming into this tournament we definitely have a lot of confidence. All along, we knew we were a good team. We just had some ups and d owns throughout the season. So to be able to pull it all together for a great conference tournament run and ultimately winning it, definitely coming into this with a lot of confidence.”
Question: DJ Burns, you just really exploded in the ACC tournament. I feel like all over social media people were just talking about you. What's it been like since that happened?
D.J. Burns: “It's been kind of crazy. The exposure that you get playing at this level is really unmatched. And I didn't really realize it until after that game how big it could possibly get. It's truly been a blessing.”
Question: You ended the season on a four-game losing streak. You were here at Pitt right before the ACC Tournament. You're obviously coming back a team with a lot more confidence. Is this a bit of a full circle moment that you're now on this stage compared to maybe where you were two weeks ago just down the street?
Casey Morsell: “No, not really. We're kind of a new team, and our approach heading into the postseason is it's a new season. One of the things we always talk about in our meetings before the tournament starts is that it's zero and zero. Everybody's record is zero and zero. And we took that approach as if it's a fresh start. And that was the foundation for us to get momentum.”
Question: DJ, is it weird going on opposing sidelines at this time and do you have any kind of stories from your time together at Arizona State?
Horne: “You know, it's always cool to see your friends and everything that you know you played with in the basketball world. So being able to play against them, even though I don't know what their status will be tomorrow, it'll be good to see those guys again knowing that we were just here last year.”
Question: On your ACC tournament run, you obviously beat a couple really good teams, Duke, North Carolina. Do you sort of think that that gives you a bit of a leg up going into the NCAA tournament that you kind of faced off against a one seed and I think Duke's a four, just kind of already going through them, I guess?
Morsell: “Yeah, for sure. I think one of the great things about the tournament is that we faced all different types of adversity, whether it be injuries, just different schemes that we played against. So we're definitely going to use those lessons that we learned from the tournament heading into this March Madness run.”
Question: You guys are a different team than you were at the end of the regular season. I'd like each one of you to comment on what you think this team is doing best right now.
Horne: “I would just say I feel like we're really connected right now. And I think everybody's on the same page of what is expected of us, or expected of each and every one of us. So I would just say the connectedness.”
Burns: “I’d say our defense. It was kind of good towards the beginning of the year, but I think that after we had the four games going into the tournament, we decided that we weren't going to be that team who -- you know, we decided to leave that defense in the past and really step up. I think our guys have been doing well, attention to detail and just stepping up.”
Morsell: “Yeah. To piggyback on what they said, I mean I think we're not beating ourselves as much as we did in the regular season. You know, we're kind of just kind of outplaying teams, but we're not shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Question: You guys all being graduate players and you kind of follow these older guys. For all three of you, how much is the driving force behind the ACC tournament run and kind of where you're at now, where this is it for us. We need to do something with this opportunity in front of us?
Horne: “I would say just knowing that this is all of our last year. We came into this, especially the ACC tournament, with a lot of desperation. I would say for myself personally, I just didn't want the season to be over and going into the tournament, I felt that from each and every one of my teammates.”
Burns: “I would say the same. It was big for me that we don't go home, you know. The way we were set up to be a part of the tournament, we most likely would not have made it without it, and we just decided that we were going to go out and fight, give it everything we got and we got the job done to make it here.”
Morsell: “Yeah, it's big just because, yeah, I mean just you work so hard all summer. I'm sure every team does. But this group, like I said, has faced a lot of adversity, and our record from the regular season shows that. And the fact that things are starting to click and things are starting to get going, it's a great story that we all value. So we're definitely going to do our best to make it a fairytale ending.”
Question: I know each season is different, each team is different. Was there ever any conversation after Saturday about the history you did achieve the first ACC championship for NC State in 37 years?
Horne: “Yeah. We talked about it a little bit, but just with how fast everything's been kind of moving the past couple of days, having to get ready to get up here for the tournament, I don't think we've really had a chance to process it all. But the city has shown a lot of love, and I think over time we'll see more like just what we did.”
Question: I'm just wondering what each of you guys think about how this team came together during the week last week. Can you talk a little bit about that? Did you feel something different happening during that run?
Morsell: “Well, I mean, yeah. I mean, it was taking it one game at a time, just focusing on going one and 0, you know. And I think trying to mute out the noise and distractions leading up to the game. There were a lot of negativity outside of our locker room, and just focusing on the task at hand and whatever happens at the end of the season happens really. So our backs were against the wall. We embraced the underdog mentality, and the rest is history.”
Burns: “I'd say we used it as motivation going into -- the disrespect that we were getting, our coach and us as players, every night, when we lost those games, just complete disrespect. And we took it personally, and I think that that's kind of what the driving force was. Some of those teams that we played against, they had disrespected us as well and we were just tired of it, honestly.”
Horne: “I'll just go back on what I said about issues being connected and everybody was honest and just focused. We felt like we all understood what our roles were and we were just going to go out there and execute that every night, and then having the monkey on your back of if you lose a game you go home and this is it. I think that was something that definitely motivated us.”
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