The No. 11 ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack just shocked the world and upset the No. 4 ranked Duke Blue Devils to advance to the Final Four on the men’s side of the March Madness Tournament. This is the first Final Four that the Wolfpack have made since 1983, and this has been done in ridiculous fashion. However, most distant fans are completely caught off guard by this and are asking a common question: How?
The Wolfpack were expected to fall in the first round of the tournament in their matchup against the No. 6 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders. But, they pulled out with a definitive win 80-67. This win is credited to the Wolfpack trio in point guard DJ Horne, center DJ Burns Jr., and center Mohammed Diarra. This trio combined for 49 points, while forward Ben Middlebrooks had 21 to his name.
Advancing to the next round, the Wolfpack went up against the No.14 ranked Oakland Golden Beavers. Do not let their ranking deceive you, as they were a fellow dark horse team in the tournament. They were coming off a record breaking performance by guard Jack Gohlke which led them to bounce the No.3 ranked Kentucky Wildcats in the first round. This game was expected to be a thriller, and it was as everyone expected. It went into overtime and the Golden Beavers were having a lights out performance with forward Trey Townsend having 30 points and notorious Jack Gohlke having 22 himself. Usually, when you have players performing to this high of a level, you will run away with a decisive win. However, the Wolfpack responded right back to each shot that the GoldenBeavers made and eventually pulled away with the win 79-73. Center DJ Burns Jr. played out of his mind, having a 24-point double-double to rally his team to the Elite Eight.
Although the Wolfpack have completely proven themselves twice, they were completely written off in the Elite Eight. Their opponents being the Jared McCain led Duke Blue Devils, all odds were against the Wolfpack.
Entering the big game, the Wolfpack began by going toe-to-toe with the Blue Devils. With 3:13 left in the first half the score was Duke 25-18 Wolfpack. After this, both defenses began locking up. Specifically the Blue Devils, which forced the Wolfpack to miss 8/9 of their last shots.
Going into the half, Duke had the lead 27-23.
The 2nd Half was very decisive. Both offenses were struggling, and one team had to pull away with the win. The Wolfpack unleashed their beast, letting DJ Burns Jr. do what he does best in making quick work of Duke in the paint. Labeled as one of the best post scorers in the country, Burns JR was unstoppable. Gathering back to back to back buckets, he pulled the Wolfpack to a 51-42 lead. He didn’t stop there however, and began making the gap larger and larger. With 5 minutes left in the game, the score was Wolfpack 58 Blue Devils 44.Once the 10-point gap was created, there was no chance that Burns Jr or Middlebrooks were going to allow a comeback. Despite Jared McCain’s terrific three-point performance in the last 5 minutes, making 4 threes, the Wolfpack eventually pulled away with the win. The final score was Wolfpack 76 Blue Devils 64.
This game stunned everyone, and the Wolfpack finally are receiving the respect that they deserve. “He’s amazing. They’re not supposed to make it, right? I just think he is so skilled, especially lefty.”
The Wolfpack advances to play in the Final Four, where we will see a historical matchup of giants between Burns Jr. and the 7 ‘4″ Zach Edey led No.1 ranked Purdue Boilermakers. Will the Wolfpack continue their historical run and advance to the championship..? Or will Edey stomp all over the Wolfpack and advance himself.
