DJ Horne scored 19 points and North Carolina State kept their magical NCAA Tournament run alive by 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 for the Wolfpack, who have won eight straight since the start of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, which they even had to win to get into March Madness.
On the 50th anniversary of NC State’s first national championship in 1974 – when the Wolfpack defeated the Golden Eagles for the title – it’s starting to look a lot like the second in 1983.
“It’s magical, but I’m going to say we knew this from day one,” said Horne, whose team lost seven of nine to end the regular season. “We knew we were a good team. It was all a matter of simply understanding and understanding our roles, and there is no better time to do that than now.”
NC State, the 11th seed in the South Region, will play for a spot in the Final Four on Sunday.
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 field looking for someone to hug after a still-discussed upset of high-flying Houston for the title.
The understated Kevin Keatts is in charge of the latest unlikely crew, with a big personality between the lines in the 6-foot-4 DJ Burns Jr., whose spinning layup and five assists helped the Wolfpack open a 13-point lead build during the break.
The No. 2 seed Golden Eagles couldn’t overcome an ugly shooting performance in their first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2013. They shot 4 of 31 (12.9%) from three-point range and shot 33.3% overall.
“We talked about being really stingy defensively,” Keatts said. “Marquette is a very good basketball team. They do a great job. I thought we were better defensively.”
Kam Jones scored 20 points and point guard Tyler Kolek had 17 points and 10 rebounds as a Big East team lost in this tournament for the first time in eight games.
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“The worst part about losing today is not having practice tomorrow,” Marquee coach Shaka Smart said. “We don’t have another match to prepare for.”