NC State basketball’s charmed March to Final Four continues with upset win over Duke
A ninth consecutive win put N.C. State on Cloud 9 and on its way to the Final Four.
The Wolfpack’s magical run through March, from its improbable ACC Tournament championship through the NCAA Tournament, added another piece of history Sunday as N.C. State toppled Duke, 76-64, in the South Regional championship game at American Airlines Center.
N.C. State’s nine-game winning streak, which started when it was a No. 10 seed in the ACC Tournament, has earned the Wolfpack its first Final Four appearance since the legendary 1983 team won the NCAA championship.
“Our school deserves it,” N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said. “Our players have really worked hard. The fans deserve it. We’ve done a really good job. When I say we, I always say we. I mean, these young men in the locker room through all the adversity that we have we went through, up and downs of winning games and losing games. They never lost their faith and stayed together. It means a lot. It really does.”
This year’s Wolfpack (26-14), seeded No. 11 in the South Region, has more losses than any team to ever qualify for the Final Four. Three teams with 13 losses had previously reached the Final Four (Syracuse in 2016, Wisconsin and North Carolina in 2000).
N.C. State advances to the national semifinals to play Purdue (33-4) on Saturday night at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. They join reigning NCAA champion Connecticut (35-3) and newcomer Alabama (24-11) in the Final Four.
To get there Sunday, N.C. State erased Duke’s 27-21 halftime lead by rolling its offense through South Region Most Outstanding Player Award winner D.J. Burns, who scored 29 points. Burns had 21 of those points in the second half when the Wolfpack shot 73.1% (19 of 26). Guard DJ Horne added 20 points for N.C. State.
“It’s a miracle run, but we’re not surprised,” Keatts said. “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.”
N.C. State’s second-half surge coincided with Duke’s inability to hit any shots. The Blue Devils (27-9) made just 5 of their first 23 shots after halftime, on the way to a frigid 32.2% shooting day. Duke made just 5 of 20 3-pointers in the game, making just 3 of 13 3-point attempts in the second half when it missed its first nine 3-pointers after halftime.
“We never had a rhythm on offense. Never,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “So in the second half, they started to score more, and our offense just -- it was probably the most disjointed game that we’ve had all year. It really was.”
The No. 4 seed in the South Region, Duke’s demise prevented it from making its second Final Four in the past three seasons. Jared McCain scored 32 points for Duke as he was the only Blue Devils player to make a 3-pointer. Kyle Filipowski finished with 11 before fouling out.
After leading 27-21 at halftime, Duke continued its inability to make shots early in the second half and the Wolfpack took advantage to catch up.
While Duke hit just 4 of its first 12 shots, the Wolfpack made 9 of 12 and took a 42-38 lead on a Burns basket inside with 11:02 to play.
When Middlebrooks drew Filipowski’s fourth foul and made two free throws with 9:49 to play, N.C. State had an 8-0 run to lead 44-38.
Roach finally broke Duke’s scoring drought with a basket in the lane, but Burns answered for N.C. State and Horne hit a baseline jumper after a Roach turnover to put the Wolfpack up 48-40 with 8:19 remaining. By making 11 of its first 15 shots after halftime, the Wolfpack put itself in position to take control.
A technical foul called on Keatts for arguing a call allowed McCain to hit two free throws. But Michael O’Connell hit a 3-pointer while Mark Mitchell committed a Duke foul under the basket. N.C. State retained possession and Burns scored inside giving the Wolfpack a commanding 53-42 lead with 6:41 to play.
When Filipowski drew his fifth foul attempting to rebound yet another missed Duke shot with 4:52 remaining, the Wolfpack had plenty of reason for an early celebration as it rolled to the win. When Burns scored inside with 4:20 to play, N.C. State led 58-44 and the party was on for the folks dressed in red.
“I think the biggest thing was sticking together,” N.C. State guard Michael O’Connell said. “Obviously things aren’t always going to go well or things are going to go wrong, but for us to stick together through the tough times and even the great times is going to be huge.”
Duke took a 27-21 halftime lead after both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket over the game’s first 20 minutes. The Blue Devils shot 30.5% but that was better than N.C. State’s 26.5%, which included the Wolfpack making just 1 of 7 3-pointers.
McCain led Duke’s offense early as the Blue Devils built a seven-point lead. His three free throws at 12:44 gave Duke a 12-9 lead and the Blue Devils never trailed the rest of the half. That was part of McCain scoring 11 consecutive points for Duke and his 3-pointer at 10:10 put Duke up 15-11.
Horne drilled N.C. State’s lone 3-pointer of the half, but Duke responded with six consecutive points. Filipowski scored inside, Roach drove for a layup and Mark Mitchell scored inside off a pass from Filipowski giving Duke a 21-14 lead.
Duke only made two more field goals over the final seven minutes of the half, but N.C. State’s inability to score prevented it from catching up to the Blue Devils.
But that all changed in the second half, which Keatts was confident was coming.
“We missed a lot of chippies in the first half,” Keatts said. “We left a lot of things on the rim. I counted myself about five missed layups. My assistant coaches were losing it. I was, like, relax, we’re going to be fine. It’s not like they’re setting the world on fire offensively either.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2024 at 7:36 PM.