- No 11 Wolfpack are on eight-game win streak
- DJ Horne scores 19 points in 67-58 victory
DJ Horne scored 19 points and North Carolina State kept their 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 for the Wolfpack, who have eight consecutive victories since the start of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, which they had to win even to be a part of March Madness.
On the 50th anniversary of NC 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 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 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.”
NC State, the 11th seed in the South Region, will play on Sunday 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 lower-key Kevin Keatts is in charge of the latest unlikely crew, with a big personality between the lines in 6ft 9in 275lbs forward DJ Burns Jr, whose spinning layup and five assists helped the Wolfpack build a 13-point halftime lead.
The No 2 seed Golden Eagles 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 three-point range and shot 33.3% overall.
“We talked about being very stingy defensively,” Keatts said. “Marquette’s a really 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 for the first time in eight games in this tournament.
“The worst part about losing today is that we don’t have practice tomorrow,” Marquee coach Shaka Smart said. “We don’t have another game to prepare for.”
