Every March Madness, there is always a men’s college basketball team that defies the odds and goes on a lengthy run.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!No. 9 Florida Atlantic made it to the Final Four last year, No. 15 Oral Roberts upset No. 2 Ohio State in the first round and lost by just two to No. 3 Arkansas in the Sweet 16 in 2021, No. 16 UMBC smoking No. 1 Virginia 74-54 in the first round of 2018, etc.
There are many to name, but making it to the 2024 Final Four and busting many brackets along the way was No. 11 NC State.
FINAL FOUR BOUND 🏜️ pic.twitter.com/nsvb3DfgfJ
— NC State Men's Basketball (@PackMensBball) March 31, 2024
Road to the Dance
This season, the Wolfpack are 27-14 and won the ACC Championship even though they were massive underdogs.
As the No. 10 seed coming into the conference playoffs, NC State eliminated Louisville, No. 7 Syracuse, No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Virginia as they punched their ticket to the final vs. bitter rival, No. 1 UNC.
In the championship, former ASU guard DJ Horne scored 29 points and center DJ Burnes Jr. had 20 as the Wolfpack won 84-76.
Working their magic to get as far as they did in the tournament, that same energy has transferred over to the NCAA Tournament.
NC State faced No. 6 Texas Tech in the first round and came out with an 80-76 win. Forward Ben Middlebrooks broke out for 21 points and Mohamed Diarra recorded a double-double (17 points, 12 rebounds).
The Wolfpack’s second-round matchup was up against No. 14 Oakland who pulled off a major upset of their own, an 80-76 victory over No. 3 Kansas.
With both teams riding in with high levels of confidence, Burns Jr. guided NC State to the Sweet 16 with a 24-point performance, taking down Oakland 79-73.
NC State would then grind through two tough tests against No. 2 Marquette (67-58 win) and No. 4 Duke (76-64 win) to advance to the Final Four.
“It gets to a point when you are winning games like we are when you expect to win,” NC State head coach Kevin Keatts said after eliminating Duke. “It’s beautiful to watch, it’s a miracle run but we aren’t surprised. We didn’t come into this tournament and say ‘Let’s just try to be here,’ we came in and are trying to win it. Now we got to move on to our next stage.”
Championship Hopefuls
Up against college basketball powerhouse, No. 1 Purdue, the key for the Wolfpack is to limit Zach Edey’s effectiveness. The projected NBA Draft pick Edey is averaging 25.0 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
Matching Edey up with Burns Jr. and vice versa will be the focal point if either team wants to have a chance at victory.
Another target the Wolfpack will have to watch out for is Braden Smith who has the second-most assists per game this year (7.5). Only Marquette’s Tyler Kolek had more, 7.7 per game.
Also for the rest of NC State, rebounds and defense will be tested as Purdue is coming in with the tenth-best scoring offense in the nation (83.5 points per game). Edey is the second-best rebounder in men’s college basketball (12.2 per game).
NC State will have a steep hill to climb as no team has reached the national championship as a No. 10 or later in over 20 years.
The Wolfpack will take on the Boilermakers on April 6 at 3:09 p.m. inside State Farm Stadium in Glendale.
Final Four men’s matchups materialize after wild Elite 8 concludes
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers Phoenix Sports News for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
