WASHINGTON — It must be March.
North Carolina State clinched a surprise conference matchup with an 84-76 victory over North Carolina on Saturday night, stealing a spot in the NCAA Tournament ahead of Selection Sunday.
The Wolfpack, which had lost seven of its last nine regular-season games, came to Washington as the No. 10 seed in the ACC Tournament, needing to win five games in five days to extend its season. Duke's upset, an overtime win over Virginia and its suffocation of the Tar Heels on Saturday night, managed to pull it off.
“Why not us? We carried that mantra into the tournament,” fifth-year guard Casey Morsell said. “We know we're underdogs, but we love that feeling. We love being underdogs. We were 10-point underdogs today. We love it. We love it all.”
The Wolfpack were led Saturday by fifth-year guard DJ Horn, who scored 29 points on 9-of-15 shooting and led the foul trouble for much of the second half. With the game all in hand, he fouled out with a minute left.
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Listed at 6 feet, 9 inches tall and 275 pounds, T.J. Burns Jr. finished with 20 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
The result was NC State's first ACC Tournament Championship since 1987 — more than a decade before any of the current players on the team were born. That Wolfpack team was coached by the late Jim Valvano.
“We, NC State — we're getting crushed because we haven't delivered a championship in 37 years —,” coach Kevin Keatts said. “Well, they can't say that now because they got one tonight.”
Before the team boarded the plane to Washington, Keats advised each player to bring some good luck with them. They knew the challenge ahead of them—and a few good luck charms wouldn't hurt.
The run started well enough, with wins over two neutral opponents, Louisville and Syracuse. It kicked into overdrive with Thursday night's win over second-ranked Duke, which was considered one of the favorites entering the week. With Michael O'Connell's buzzer-beating 3-pointer to open Friday night's game against Virginia, a hint of magic emerged.
“Everybody expected it to be Carolina and Duke,” Keats said after the Virginia game, which his team eventually won 73-65. “Well, it's Carolina and NC State. We play good basketball at NC State, too.”
Keats said he ate at the same restaurant, The Capital Burger, every day of the week in an effort to keep up the mojo. He noted that NC State has had morning shootings at the same DC-area high school every day.
The most impressive aspect of the run was not only the teams NC State beat, including bluebloods Duke and North Carolina, but also the fact that it played five games in five consecutive days.
When asked if he and his teammates emptied the metaphorical tank, Burns joked: “I'm just saying, my legs hurt right now.”
With the win, NC State caused some confusion in the NCAA Tournament field less than 24 hours before the bracket was revealed. The Wolfpack are expected to join North Carolina, Duke and Clemson as ACC teams in the field; Its victory would spell disaster for Virginia, one of the bubble's key teams.
And while Keatts lamented the prospect of ACC teams not making it to the NCAA Tournament field, some NC State players were already looking forward.
“If we're consistent like this, we'll make a run — like we did,” O'Connell said. “We still have to pay attention to the little details.”
On a chaotic, crazy night, it's a familiar refrain: Why not us?
Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on social media @Tom_Schad.
