NC State’s wild run did not finish with its ACC match title.
The Eleventh-seeded Wolfpack opened an NCAA match run that nobody noticed coming with an 80-67 upset of No. 6 seed Texas Tech on Thursday, their sixth straight win within the postseason after dropping 4 in a row to finish the common season. It’s the program’s first time within the second spherical since 2015, when it shocked No. 1 seed Villanova.
It was an excellent day to be a No. 11 seed total, as Duquesne beat BYU and Oregon beat South Carolina earlier within the day. The lone No. 6 seed remaining is Clemson, which faces New Mexico on Friday.
NC State punched its ticket into March Insanity with a five-wins-in-five-nights run via the ACC match that noticed it upset Duke, Virginia and UNC alongside the way in which. It was the NC State’s first ACC title since 1987 and the primary run of 5 straight wins in a convention match since Kemba Walker led UConn to the 2011 Large East title.
Many faculty basketball followers will bear in mind Walker proceeded to guide the Huskies to the NCAA title that season, as a No. 3 seed.
NC State might need had a decrease seed than that UConn staff, but it surely regarded like a battle-tested veteran staff on Thursday. The Wolfpack spent a lot of the primary half going forwards and backwards with the Crimson Raiders earlier than discovering just a bit daylight, going into halftime with a 37-33 lead.
The sport was gained halfway via the second half, when NC State ripped off a 13-2 run to take management in Pittsburgh. They did not precisely do it with lights-out taking pictures. Simply steady muscle within the paint.
March Insanity followers love their distinctive gamers and NC State greater than supplied that with DJ Burns Jr., the 6-foot-9, 275-pound senior whose shocking burst gave Texas Tech points all sport. Burns completed the sport with 16 factors on 11-of-17 taking pictures, whereas Ben Middlebrooks got here off the bench to guide the Wolfpack in scoring with 21 factors.
NC State’s reward can be a date with No. 14 seed Oakland within the second spherical on Saturday. The Golden Grizzlies pulled off an excellent greater stunner within the earlier sport, surprising No. 3 seed Kentucky with a barrage of 3-pointers from breakout star Jack Gohlke.
Gohlke stated after Oakland’s win that the staff is not a Cinderella. In opposition to NC State, they actually won’t be.