NC State Basketball
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.
According to reports, NC State is adding UMASS’ Brett Nelson as an Assistant Coach.
Sources: Brett Nelson is leaving UMass to join Kevin Keatts’ staff at NC State as an assistant.
Matt Figger — who worked for Frank Martin at both South Carolina and Kansas State — will replace Nelson in Amherst.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 15, 2024
Nelson was only at UMASS for 1 season under Frank Martin. Prior to that, Nelson was the Head Coach at Holy Cross for 4 seasons, posting a 27-84 record.
Prior to taking the Head Coaching mantle at Holy Cross, Nelson was at Marquette for 5 seasons, spending the first 3 as an Assistant Coach, and the final two as an Associate Head Coach. Prior to Marquette, Nelson also served as an Assistant Coach at Ball St., Drake, Arkansas and Marshall.
Before coaching basketball, Nelson played for the University of Florida from 1999-2003. He was All-SEC twice, and earned Third Team All-American honors. When he left Gainesville, he was the Gators’ all-time leader in three pointers made, and ranked 2nd in steals.
As a Senior in High School, Nelson was a McDonald’s All-American.
Power Forward Ernest Ross announced this morning that he is returning to NC State for his final year of eligibility.
View this post on Instagram
Last Friday, Ross committed to UTSA after entering the Transfer Portal on April 17th, but it looks like he had a change of heart over the past couple of days.
NC State has been in desperate need to add a Big out of the Portal. They have hosted ECU’s Ezra Ausar and Georgia’s Frank Anselem-Ibe, but neither of them have found a home yet. With the addition of Ross, NC State has added depth in the Frontcourt, and unless something changes, their roster is full with 13 scholarship players.
Ross played in 14 games this past season, averaging 3.4 minutes per contest. After playing in 34 games last season, averaging 11.4 minutes per contest, Ross saw his participation dip to a career low this season, but that didn’t for a second break his infectious personality. On the sideline, you could count on Ross every single game to be the heart and soul of the Wolfpack on the bench. To watch a player who played as little as he did, care as much as he did, makes me super proud that this young man represented NC State so well.
Ross was a consensus 4-star player in NC State’s 2021 recruiting class, with 247Sports ranking him as the #60 overall player nationally. ESPN ranked him as the #5 overall player in the state of Florida.
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Oh no they’re doing it to me again. They’re making me believe. Keatts, you want to keep your job, bring the ACC Trophy back to Raleigh please.