In the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night, North Carolina State defeated No. 11 Duke 74-69 behind 18 points from DJ Horne, who also made two crucial free throws with 15 seconds remaining. Second-seeded Duke (24-8) got 28 points and 14 rebounds from Kyle Filipowski, but the Wolfpack would not give up and N.C. State big man D.J. Burns Jr. kept him frustrated in the second half. In the semifinals on Friday, third-seeded Virginia will play 10th-seeded N.C. The Wolfpack has to win two more games to guarantee an unlikely automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, even though they have already won three in three days. Coach Kevin Keatts stated, “We talk about our conditioning and how it pays off for us.”
“Honestly, based on the three games we played, we appeared to be the most inexperienced team overall.” With a loss in its home finale against rival North Carolina and an early exit from the ACC Tournament despite a bye into the quarterfinals, Duke enters the NCAA Tournament on a bad note. With 30 seconds remaining, a strange move gave Duke, who had been behind the whole second half, one more opportunity to win the game. Ben Middlebrooks of N.C. State missed a dunk with his team leading by five points, but he still managed to snag the ball by hanging on the rim.
N.C. State (20-14) gained possession after Jared McCain’s technical foul shot, but Mohamed Diarra missed two free throws and Filipowski’s jumper narrowed the lead to two. With 15 seconds remaining, however, Horne’s free throws made it 73-69 after Filipowski fouled out.
Horne stated, “I just wanted the ball.” It’s time to win.
Including cancellations due to COVID-19, this is the earliest Duke has left the ACC Tournament since losing to Notre Dame in the quarterfinals in 2016. In an attempt to become the first squad to win this competition twice since the Blue Devils’ three-peat victory in 2009–2011, Duke was competing. After a layup, steal, and another layup by Filipowski, the Blue Devils went on a 9-0 run in the first half. Later, the big man found Mark Mitchell for a dunk, putting the team up 28–24.
However, with 5:26 remaining, Filipowski was dismissed after receiving a second foul call. N.C. State scored the opening six points of the second half after finishing the half strongly to lead 35–32. According to Duke coach Jon Scheyer, “N.C. State is playing the best basketball they’ve played probably.” “They have talent. Teams don’t want to leave when they’re in the postseason. You must force them to disappear.
With 1:46 left, Mitchell took the Blue Devils to the line, trailing Duke by five points. Burns scored with his left hand after Filipowski was backed down at the other end by him after he missed both free throw attempts. “Every team is fighting for their lives; you have to see the reality of it,” Filipowski remarked. “We simply need to want it more than the teams we play against.”
Blog BY:- ExpertSadar
