NC State Picks Up Their 1st Quad 1 Win of the Season at Clemson!

For the first time since 2015, NC State defeated Clemson on the road this evening, beating the Tigers 78-77 in dramatic fashion. The Wolfpack entered the contest with an 0-6 record in Quad 1 games, but the win over Clemson tonight gives NC State their first Quad 1 win of the season.

The Wolfpack trailed by 1 with 25 seconds left. With 10 seconds left on the shot clock, NC State head coach Kevin Keatts didn’t like what he was seeing, and called timeout, drawing up a play to get DJ Horne the ball. The timeout accomplished its task, with Horne hitting the game winner with 9 seconds left on the clock.

MR. CLUTCH😎 pic.twitter.com/1sT6NvSI3c

— NC State Men’s Basketball (@PackMensBball) February 18, 2024

Horne finished with 27 points, making 10 of his 20 shots, and 5 of 11 from deep. After scoring 11 in the 1st half, Horne only scored 3 points in the first 14 minutes of the 2nd half. Yes, that means DJ scored 13 minutes in the final 6 minutes.

NC State owned the 1st half, and Clemson owned the 2nd, but the Wolfpack had the last word.

Obviously Horne gets the game ball, but the next player I would give it to would be Mohamed Diarra. He finished with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Diarra made all of three of his three point attempts, and his steal with 31 seconds left made the dramatic ending with Horne possible.

Also, without Casey Morsell creating a jump ball trying to wrestle the ball away from PJ Hall with 25 seconds left, the ending wouldn’t have materialized.

DJ Burns fouled out, but before doing so, he was extremely efficient offensively, scoring 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting. He also led the Wolfpack with 4 assists.

I know everyone is going to remember Jayden Taylor missing a wide open layup with 1:31 left, but coming off the bench, the Wolfpack was +5 with him on the court, which led the team. He finished with 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting.

NC State finishes the regular season with 3 consecutive Quad 1 games (UNC, Duke, Pitt), but before that, the slate is Syracuse (Quad 3), Boston College (Quad 3) and FSU (Quad 2).

This thing isn’t over yet folks!