NC State’s NCAA Tournament chances take a hit with homecourt loss to Syracuse
What now for N.C. State?
The Wolfpack went to Clemson last weekend and returned to Raleigh reveling in a thrilling 78-77 win over the Tigers. Next up was Syracuse, and the Pack figured it owed the Orange one after losing, badly, in their first game this season.
The game was there to be won Tuesday at PNC Arena but Syracuse won it, 87-83. Like so many ACC games this season, it was determined in the final few possessions and the Orange made the bigger, better plays.
Was the Pack’s D.J. Horne fouled on his last shot, with three seconds left and the Pack trailing 85-83? There was contact. NCSU coach Kevin Keatts thought it was a foul, saying the Orange’s Judah Mintz is pretty canny in getting off similar shots and getting favorable whistles.
But Horne, who had 32 points, didn’t get the call. The Wolfpack, No. 75 in the NET rankings before Tuesday’s game, dropped to No. 80 after the Quad-3 loss.
With five games left in the regular season, the Pack (16-10, 8-7 ACC) may be in the unwanted but unavoidable position of almost having to run the table and win all five to get back to the NCAA Tournament this season. To have a chance at the NCAA’s, it might need to be higher than No. 50 in the rankings used by the NCAA selection committee to set the tournament field.
Or, of course, win the ACC Tournament, always the last-gasp hope of ACC teams.
“We’ve still got a lot of good games left on our schedule,” Horne said. “We definitely don’t want to put ourselves out of it now. But we know that margin of error is smaller now and we have to lock in for these games that are left.”
Smaller margin? Yes, much smaller.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the so-called NCAA brackets guru, likely hasn’t given the Pack much thought, although the Clemson win had to be noticeable. The KenPom.com rankings has the Wolfpack No. 75. One mock projection gauges the Pack’s chances of making the NCAA field at 1.4%.
All are guesstimates, changing daily.
A berth in the NIT could come, not that anyone in the Wolfpack camp wants to dwell on or discuss that — yet. Remember, Wake Forest did not make the NIT field last season with a 19-14 record and 10-10 mark in the ACC.
Horne pointed to the Pack’s “grit” as the catalyst in its second-half comeback Tuesday. The Wolfpack was looking at a 15-point deficit when it went to the locker room at halftime, having given up 55 points.
“Desperation time,” Horne called it.
It might be now for the Pack, which has reached the point in the season where every game will have a “must-win” feel to keep its postseason hopes viable.
“They’re must-wins, they’re close games and they’re (one) possession games,” Keatts said. “We’ve been on both ends of it. These games are good games. And our guys fought.”
Horne played in the NCAA Tournament last season with Arizona State. Mohamed Diarra got his first NCAA experience with Missouri. They transferred to N.C. State after last season hoping and believing there would be another NCAA appearance this year.
Jayden Taylor came from Butler. Ben Middlebrooks transferred from Clemson, which was left out last season. They want in on the March fun, too.
So it’s gut-check time for the Pack. The approach now for playing Boston College on Saturday?
“We re-set after every game,” Keatts said. “We talk about the positives and negatives and how do we move on.
“We’re still fighting. I don’t think anybody is going to hang their heads.”
This story was originally published February 21, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
