N.C. State keeps magical March Madness run alive with 67-58 win over Marquette
DALLAS (AP) DJ Horne blew kisses to the crowd and blew off the notion of North Carolina State as a Cinderella.
As for their opportunity to create a replay of 1983, yeah, the Wolfpack are aware.
Horne scored 19 points and N.C. State kept its magical NCAA Tournament run alive, beating Marquette 67-58 on Friday night to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1986.
Casey Morsell added 15 points and Mohamed Diarra had 11 points and 15 rebounds in N.C. State's eighth consecutive victory since the start of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, which the Wolfpack had to win even to be a part of March Madness.
On the 50th anniversary of N.C. State's first national championship in 1974 - when the Wolfpack beat the Golden Eagles for the title - it's beginning to look a lot like the second one nine years after that.
“It’s magical, but I’m going to say we knew this from day one,” said Horne, whose team lost seven of nine to finish the regular season. “We knew we were a good team. It was all a matter of just locking in and understanding our roles, and no better time to be doing that than now.”
N.C. State (25-14), the 11th seed in the South Region, will face No. 4 seed Duke in an all-ACC duel for a spot in the Final Four.
The last time the Wolfpack went that far, 41 years ago, they had to win the ACC Tournament before the late Jim Valvano sprinted around the court trying to find someone to hug after a still-talked-about upset of high-flying Houston for the title.
The Cougars won't be the opponent in the South Region final because of the Blue Devils' 54-51 victory. But there are still plenty of reasons to be flashing back to 1983.
The lower-key Kevin Keatts is in charge of the latest unlikely crew, with a big personality between the lines in 6-foot-9, 275-pound forward DJ Burns Jr., whose spinning layup and five assists helped the Wolfpack build a 13-point halftime lead.
“We don't have to talk about that history because we celebrate it the entire time,” Keatts said. “It's been talked about since I've been here, and it's going to be talked about as long as we ever are going to remember.”
The No. 2 seed Golden Eagles (27-10) couldn't overcome an unsightly shooting performance in their first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2013. They went 4 of 31 (12.9%) from 3-point range and shot 33.3% overall.
“Our mentality is even if we have a tough shooting night, find a way to win anyway,” coach Shaka Smart said. “And we weren’t quite good enough on the defensive end to get that done with the shooting night that we had.”
Kam Jones scored 20 points and point guard Tyler Kolek had 17 points and 10 rebounds as a Big East team lost for the first time in eight games in this tournament.
Smart, in his third season at Marquette, is 0-2 in the NCAA Tournament in Texas - including North Carolina’s first-round blowout two years ago - after failing to win a tournament game in six seasons leading the Longhorns.
“The worst part about losing today is that we don't have practice tomorrow,” Smart said. “We don't have another game to prepare for.”
N.C. State found the same balance that led to five players leading the team in scoring during the current winning streak. Horne did it for the third time.
Horne answered two brief Marquette runs with 3-pointers, blowing a kiss to the Golden Eagles fans behind their team’s bench after the first and gesturing toward his supporters near the N.C. State bench after the second.
Marquette was within eight when Jones missed an open 3-pointer with six minutes to go. The Golden Eagles couldn’t get closer than six after trailing by 16 early in the second half.
“People still don't think we're supposed to be here, that we're going to go further,” said Burns, who had four points and seven assists. “We're going to keep trying to crash the party.”
The finish of the first half said it all as the Golden Eagles finished with a season low in points.
After Oso Ighodaro missed a dunk, Marquette got the rebound, only for David Joplin to miss a 3 to drop to 0 of 5 from deep before the break.
Joplin was fouled on a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds remaining in the first half, and missed all three free throws.
“Just keeping faith in the guys and keep giving them confidence because I’m going to keep finding them, and they know that,” said Kolek, who was limited to three assists after leading the nation at nearly eight per game. “They know I got the confidence in them to keep shooting it.”
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After winning the 1983 title, the Wolfpack reached the Elite Eight again in 1985 and ’86. They lost to a No. 1 seed each time. St. John’s was a 69-60 winner in ’85, followed by Kansas with a 75-67 victory.
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Time | Team | Play | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
20:00 | Mohamed Diarra vs. Oso Ighodaro (Wolfpack gains possession) | |||
19:43 | DJ Burns Jr. turnover (bad pass) | |||
19:27 | +2 | Oso Ighodaro makes two point layup (Tyler Kolek assists) | 0-2 | |
19:02 | Michael O'Connell turnover (traveling) | |||
18:49 | Tyler Kolek misses two point layup | |||
18:47 | Mohamed Diarra defensive rebound | |||
18:34 | +2 | Casey Morsell makes two point jump shot | 2-2 | |
18:12 | +2 | Tyler Kolek makes two point layup | 2-4 | |
18:12 | Michael O'Connell shooting foul (Tyler Kolek draws the foul) | |||
18:12 | +1 | Tyler Kolek makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 2-5 | |
17:54 | Michael O'Connell misses two point jump shot | |||
17:52 | Stevie Mitchell defensive rebound | |||
17:39 | Stevie Mitchell misses three point jump shot | |||
17:37 | DJ Horne defensive rebound | |||
17:24 | Casey Morsell misses three point jump shot | |||
17:22 | David Joplin defensive rebound | |||
17:14 | Tyler Kolek misses three point jump shot | |||
17:12 | Mohamed Diarra defensive rebound | |||
17:03 | DJ Horne misses two point layup | |||
17:01 | DJ Burns Jr. offensive rebound | |||
16:57 | +2 | DJ Burns Jr. makes two point layup | 4-5 | |
16:41 | David Joplin misses three point jump shot | |||
16:39 | Mohamed Diarra defensive rebound | |||
16:21 | +3 | Michael O'Connell makes three point jump shot (DJ Burns Jr. assists) | 7-5 | |
16:11 | +2 | Tyler Kolek makes two point layup | 7-7 | |
15:47 | +2 | DJ Horne makes two point jump shot (DJ Burns Jr. assists) | 9-7 | |
15:39 | DJ Horne shooting foul (Stevie Mitchell draws the foul) | |||
15:39 | TV timeout | |||
15:39 | Stevie Mitchell misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
15:39 | +1 | Stevie Mitchell makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 9-8 | |
15:17 | +2 | Casey Morsell makes two point jump shot | 11-8 | |
14:57 | Kam Jones misses three point jump shot | |||
14:55 | Mohamed Diarra defensive rebound | |||
14:48 | Oso Ighodaro blocks DJ Horne's three point jump shot | |||
14:46 | Ben Middlebrooks offensive rebound | |||
14:44 | +3 | DJ Horne makes three point jump shot (Ben Middlebrooks assists) | 14-8 | |
14:22 | +2 | Tyler Kolek makes two point layup | 14-10 | |
14:13 | Jayden Taylor misses two point jump shot | |||
14:11 | Chase Ross defensive rebound | |||
13:46 | DJ Horne blocks Chase Ross's two point layup | |||
13:44 | Mohamed Diarra defensive rebound | |||
13:38 | +3 | DJ Horne makes three point jump shot | 17-10 | |
13:38 | Oso Ighodaro shooting foul (DJ Horne draws the foul) | |||
13:38 | +1 | DJ Horne makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 18-10 | |
13:26 | Ben Middlebrooks personal foul (Oso Ighodaro draws the foul) | |||
13:22 | David Joplin misses three point jump shot | |||
13:20 | Ben Gold offensive rebound | |||
13:20 | Ben Gold misses two point layup | |||
13:18 | Ben Middlebrooks defensive rebound | |||
12:59 | +2 | Ben Middlebrooks makes two point layup | 20-10 | |
12:46 | +2 | Kam Jones makes two point layup | 20-12 | |
12:28 | DJ Horne misses three point jump shot | |||
12:26 | Tyler Kolek defensive rebound | |||
12:01 | David Joplin misses three point jump shot | |||
11:59 | Jayden Taylor defensive rebound | |||
11:44 | Casey Morsell misses three point jump shot | |||
11:42 | Tyler Kolek defensive rebound | |||
11:35 | DJ Horne personal foul (Tyler Kolek draws the foul) | |||
11:35 | TV timeout | |||
11:26 | David Joplin misses two point layup | |||
11:24 | DJ Burns Jr. defensive rebound | |||
10:55 | Michael O'Connell misses two point layup | |||
10:53 | Tyler Kolek defensive rebound | |||
10:45 | David Joplin misses three point jump shot | |||
10:43 | Mohamed Diarra defensive rebound | |||
10:33 | Jayden Taylor turnover (out of bounds) | |||
10:10 | Stevie Mitchell misses three point jump shot | |||
10:08 | Jayden Taylor defensive rebound | |||
9:57 | Michael O'Connell misses three point jump shot | |||
9:55 | Tyler Kolek defensive rebound | |||
9:44 | Oso Ighodaro misses two point jump shot | |||
9:42 | Mohamed Diarra defensive rebound | |||
9:36 | Jayden Taylor misses three point jump shot | |||
9:34 | Stevie Mitchell defensive rebound | |||
9:26 | +2 | Tyler Kolek makes two point layup | 20-14 | |
9:02 | +2 | Casey Morsell makes two point dunk (DJ Burns Jr. assists) | 22-14 | |
8:41 | Tyler Kolek turnover (lost ball) (Casey Morsell steals) | |||
8:35 | +2 | Casey Morsell makes two point layup (Michael O'Connell assists) | 24-14 | |
8:15 | DJ Burns Jr. shooting foul (Oso Ighodaro draws the foul) | |||
8:15 | Oso Ighodaro misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
8:15 | Oso Ighodaro misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | |||
8:15 | Mohamed Diarra defensive rebound | |||
7:53 | DJ Burns Jr. turnover (bad pass) (Stevie Mitchell steals) | |||
7:48 | +2 | Stevie Mitchell makes two point layup | 24-16 | |
7:30 | Mohamed Diarra misses three point jump shot | |||
7:28 | Chase Ross defensive rebound | |||
7:11 | +3 | Kam Jones makes three point jump shot (Oso Ighodaro assists) | 24-19 | |
6:48 | DJ Burns Jr. turnover (bad pass) (Chase Ross steals) | |||
6:41 | Chase Ross misses three point jump shot | |||
6:39 | Mohamed Diarra defensive rebound | |||
6:23 | +2 | Mohamed Diarra makes two point layup (DJ Burns Jr. assists) | 26-19 | |
6:11 | Kam Jones misses three point jump shot | |||
6:09 | DJ Burns Jr. defensive rebound | |||
5:47 | Stevie Mitchell personal foul (DJ Burns Jr. draws the foul) | |||
5:47 | TV timeout | |||
5:22 | Wolfpack turnover (shot clock violation) | |||
4:59 | Oso Ighodaro turnover (lost ball) (Mohamed Diarra steals) | |||
4:56 | Kam Jones shooting foul (Jayden Taylor draws the foul) | |||
4:56 | Jayden Taylor misses regular free throw 1 of 2 | |||
4:56 | Jayden Taylor misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | |||
4:56 | Oso Ighodaro defensive rebound | |||
4:38 | Kam Jones misses two point jump shot | |||
4:36 | Ben Middlebrooks defensive rebound | |||
4:21 | Michael O'Connell turnover (bad pass) (Oso Ighodaro steals) | |||
3:59 | Tyler Kolek turnover (bad pass) | |||
3:59 | TV timeout | |||
3:41 | +3 | Jayden Taylor makes three point jump shot (DJ Burns Jr. assists) | 29-19 | |
3:31 | +3 | Tyler Kolek makes three point jump shot | 29-22 | |
3:03 | Jayden Taylor misses three point jump shot | |||
3:01 | Mohamed Diarra offensive rebound | |||
2:58 | +2 | Mohamed Diarra makes two point dunk | 31-22 | |
2:43 | Stevie Mitchell misses two point jump shot | |||
2:41 | Michael O'Connell defensive rebound | |||
2:26 | +3 | Jayden Taylor makes three point jump shot (Mohamed Diarra assists) | 34-22 | |
2:23 | Golden Eagles 30 second timeout | |||
2:06 | David Joplin turnover (bad pass) (Michael O'Connell steals) | |||
1:58 | Jayden Taylor turnover (bad pass) (Chase Ross steals) | |||
1:51 | Chase Ross turnover (bad pass) (Michael O'Connell steals) | |||
1:30 | +2 | DJ Burns Jr. makes two point layup (Jayden Taylor assists) | 36-22 | |
1:15 | +2 | Tyler Kolek makes two point layup | 36-24 | |
0:57 | Casey Morsell misses two point jump shot | |||
0:55 | Tyler Kolek defensive rebound | |||
0:42 | Oso Ighodaro misses two point dunk | |||
0:40 | Oso Ighodaro offensive rebound | |||
0:36 | David Joplin misses three point jump shot | |||
0:34 | Mohamed Diarra defensive rebound | |||
0:26 | Wolfpack 30 second timeout | |||
0:23 | Oso Ighodaro personal foul (DJ Burns Jr. draws the foul) | |||
0:11 | David Joplin shooting foul (Mohamed Diarra draws the foul) | |||
0:11 | +1 | Mohamed Diarra makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 37-24 | |
0:11 | Mohamed Diarra misses regular free throw 2 of 2 | |||
0:11 | Kam Jones defensive rebound | |||
0:02 | Mohamed Diarra shooting foul (David Joplin draws the foul) | |||
0:02 | David Joplin misses regular free throw 1 of 3 | |||
0:02 | David Joplin misses regular free throw 2 of 3 | |||
0:02 | David Joplin misses regular free throw 3 of 3 | |||
0:02 | Ben Middlebrooks defensive rebound | |||
0:00 | End of period |