NC State Advances to Their First Semifinals in the ACCT Since 2013-14

For the first time since 2013-14, NC State’s Men’s Basketball team has advanced to the Semifinals of the ACC Tournament, defeating Duke 74-69 up in Washington D.C.

The Wolfpack are the #10 seed, becoming the first double-digit seed to advance to the Semifinals of the ACC Tournament since they did it as the #11 seed back in 2010, along with #12 seed Miami.

NC State dominated the game, leading for 32:22 minutes, compared to the lone 3:05 minutes the Blue Devils led. The last time Duke led in the game was with 1:29 left in the 1st half.

The Wolfpack were extremely balanced, with 5 players scoring in double figures.

Senior DJ Horne came off the bench once again, but didn’t stay there long, playing in 36 of the 40 minutes. He led the Pack in scoring with 18 points, shooting 7 of 13 from the field.

Junior Mohamed Diarra was a beast, posting a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds. Diarrra made 5 of his 9 shots. I almost forgot to mention…he also had 4 blocks and 3 steals. Diarra is such a complete player when he’s clicking on all cylinders.

Senior Michael O’Connell is playing his best offensive basketball of the season, scoring in double figures for the third straight game. Prior to the ACC Tournament, O’Connell didn’t score in double figures in back-to-back games once all season. O’Connell scored 12 points this evening, making 5 of his 7 shots, including both of his shots from beyond the arc. He also tied for the team lead in assists with 4.

Senior Casey Morsell had 11 points, and I’m pretty sure 6 of them came off of dunks. As his collegiate career comes to an end, Morsell is deciding to show the world his hops.

Senior DJ Burns finished with 10 points (4-11 FG) and 4 assists (tied for team lead).

Key stat of the game: NC State scored 18 second chance points, while Duke scored 8.

As dominant of a performance as it was, it was hard to breathe in the final minutes.

Before DJ Horne made 2 free throws with 15 seconds left, the Wolfpack made things interesting, missing 6 of 7 free throws prior to that, and I won’t soon forget this sight…

When Junior Ben Middlebrooks missed this dunk with 30.3 seconds left, he hung on the rim, attempting to rebound the miss, resulting in a Technical foul. Instead of going up by 7, Duke made the free throw, and made it a 4-point game with 30 seconds left.

But enough about that, it was a heck of a performance by NC State. The Wolfpack had an answer for every Duke run, whipped the ball around in the half-court, and attacked the paint.

NC State is playing their best stretch of basketball at the most important time of the year.

The Wolfpack will play the winner of Virginia and Boston College tomorrow night at 9:30pm.