In an ACC Tournament run that’s already made history, NC State has rediscovered itself
Already, N.C. State’s gotten further away from Tuesday than anyone else ever has. Suddenly, a season headed into a dark cul-de-sac is overflowing with new paths forward.
The Wolfpack is refusing to go quietly.
It has its fight back.
It has its mojo back.
“I don’t know where it’s been. I’m just glad it’s here now,” N.C. State forward D.J. Burns said. “I hope it doesn’t go nowhere else. I hope it doesn’t go anywhere.”
And it even survived the kind of star-crossed bad-luck moment that has derailed better N.C. State teams in better circumstances — a technical foul on a missed exclamation-point dunk that nearly swung the game in Duke’s favor.
.JPG "RAL_DUKENCSU-SP-031424-RTW_8 (1).JPG")
In other circumstances, Ben Middlebrooks might be all anyone is talking about, and for a long, long time, like the wiping-the-floor technical in 2004 that cost N.C. State dearly in a Greensboro loss to Maryland.
Instead, he’s a footnote in a third straight victory in the ACC Tournament, 74-69 over Duke on Thursday, his miscue all but forgotten in the whirlwind of an impending semifinal.
“I was definitely very upset with myself,” Middlebrooks said. “I was obviously hurt that I did something like that to jeopardize our team, but I knew that our guys had it locked down. I had faith in my team to get the job finished.”
Thursday’s win over Duke even opened the door to an all-Carolina final no one expected. And not with Duke on the other side. Not Clemson. But N.C. State.
There are still two games to be played Friday before that happens, North Carolina against Pittsburgh and N.C. State against Virginia. But the Wolfpack has already broken with enough precedent.
“We have no plans on stopping,” Burns said.
The first double-digit seed to win three games since the Wolfpack reached the title game iin 2007. The first double-digit seed to make the semifinals since the Wolfpack (and Miami) did it in 2010.
Someone, someday is going to win five games in five days, just as a No. 16 seed was eventually going to beat a No. 1. Play enough games and anything can happen. Give N.C. State a chance to play another game … and another … and another … and another, and anything can happen.
“It feels like every game we play we get better,” Middlebrooks said. “We obviously had to fix some things coming into the tournament, and it seems like every game we get another piece clicking, get another problem we’ve had figured out. If we keep doing that, I think we’ve got a good chance to do something special.”
Only five days ago, after ending the regular season with a fourth straight loss, the Wolfpack’s prospects of going on this kind of run seemed unlikely at best. If anything, there was more discussion about Kevin Keatts’ future at N.C. State than anything that might be hanging in the balance this week, especially since N.C. State’s chances at an at-large NCAA bid — unlike Duke’s — went out the window weeks ago.
But that’s not the only way into the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m ready to play another one,” N.C. State’s Jayden Taylor said. “I’d play six of them if we have to, to win. To get to the tournament? I’d play eight games in eight days.”
The Wolfpack won’t have to do that. But it is nevertheless playing its way into a conversation upon which it could only eavesdrop before. It has made history already. It has a chance to make more.
Never miss a Luke DeCock column. Sign up at tinyurl.com/lukeslatest to have them delivered directly to your email inbox as soon as they post.
Luke DeCock’s Latest: Never miss a column on the Canes, ACC or other Triangle sports
This story was originally published March 14, 2024 at 12:00 AM with the headline "In an ACC Tournament run that’s already made history, NC State has rediscovered itself."
