DJ Horne scored 19 points and 11th-seeded North Carolina State continued its stunning run with a 67-58 victory over second-seeded Marquette on Friday night in South Region play in Dallas to advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
Casey Morsell added 15 points and Mohamed Diarra had 11 points and 15 rebounds as the Wolfpack (25-14) reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 1986. NC State has won eight straight games following a four-game losing streak to end the regular season.
Kam Jones scored 20 points and Tyler Kolek added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (27-10), who shot just 33.3 percent from the field and were a measly 4 of 31 (12.9 percent) from 3-point range.
NC State will face No. 4 Duke in the regional final on Sunday. The Blue Devils (27-8) defeated No. 1 Houston 54-50 on Friday.
“We’re sharing the basketball. They’re starting to trust each other, they believe in one another. It’s beautiful,” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said.
Morsell said his team never tires of showing doubters what the Wolfpack can do.
“Going into every game, we’re pretty much the underdogs. We have that conversation heading into every game about trying to embrace everyone doubting us and just proving everyone wrong and going into the locker room and celebrating.”
The Wolfpack led by 16 early in the second half before Marquette chopped 10 points off its deficit.
A basket by Morsell put NC State ahead by eight with 2:21 remaining, and Michael O’Connell followed with a 3-pointer with 1:35 left to give the Wolfpack a 63-52 lead.
After Marquette moved within seven, Diarra and Horne each made two free throws to make it 67-56 with 29.4 seconds left, and NC State closed it out.
The Wolfpack shot 46.4 percent from the field, including 9 of 23 (39.1 percent) from 3-point range. The Wolfpack held a 42-35 rebounding advantage and led for nearly 36 minutes of the game.
A putback by Diarra gave NC State a 53-38 lead with 9:30 left.
Marquette then began a 14-5 run, which included the Wolfpack going 4:01 without a point. First, the Golden Eagles rattled off seven straight points. A three-point play by Oso Ighodaro pulled Marquette within 53-45 with 7:26 to play.
Diarra’s basket ended the Wolfpack’s drought and made it a 10-point margin.
The Golden Eagles made another charge and moved within 58-52 on a three-point play by Jones with 3:39 left.
NC State held a 37-24 at the break. Kolek scored 14 in the first half for Marquette.
The Wolfpack used an early 18-5 run to open a 20-10 lead with 12:59 left in the half. Horne had all nine of his first-half points during the stretch, including a 3-pointer and a four-point play in a span of 67 seconds.
“That’s why it’s a 40-minute game,” Kolek said. “You have to play both halves. They got up big in the first half. We came out in the second half. That first round, they got an even bigger lead. We didn’t come out how we wanted to, but we scrapped the rest of the game and fought back and gave it all we had.”
–Field Level Media
