The No. 11 Wolfpack won their ninth consecutive elimination game to beat No. 4 Duke 76-64 in the Elite Eight on Sunday. The win means NC State is the sixth No. 11 seed to make the Final Four in men’s NCAA tournament history. No team seeded lower than No. 11 has ever made a Final Four.
The Wolfpack’s two DJs led the way. Both DJ Horne and DJ Burns were phenomenal. At one point during the stretch they scored 10 consecutive points for NC State. Burns was 13 of 19 from the field and finished with a game-high 29 points. Horne had 20.
Duke went to a full-court press over the final three minutes in a last-ditch attempt to cut into NC State's lead and it backfired. The Wolfpack consistently broke the pressure and got easy baskets at the rim to keep the lead in double figures.
It’s the fourth Final Four trip in school history for NC State and the school’s first since it won the national title in 1983 as a No. 6 seed. That fabled team led by Jim Valvano knocked off two No. 1 seeds and a No. 4 seed over its final three tournament games to win the National Championship.
On a local note, Jim Valvano visited WHKP the year before winning the National Championship to meet up with NC State friends and sponsors when the station featured the Wolfpack on our AM station and the Tar Heels on our FM WKIT. After a round of golf at Hendersonville Country Club he boldy proclaimed that he was going to win the National Championship the next year and we all laughed as we poured down some 'adult beverages'. Guess who had the last laugh ?
