WASHINGTON — It must be March.
North Carolina State capped a miraculous conference tournament run with an 84-76 win over North Carolina on Saturday night, stealing a spot in the NCAA Tournament on the eve of Selection Sunday.
The Wolfpack, which lost seven of its last nine regular-season games, arrived in Washington as the No. 10 seed in the ACC tournament, needing to win five games in five days to prolong its season. And with an upset of Duke, an overtime victory over Virginia and its smothering of the Tar Heels on Saturday night, it managed to pull it off.
"Why not us? We carried that mantra into the tournament," fifth-year guard Casey Morsell said. "We knew we were the underdog, but we love that feeling. We love being the underdogs. We were like 10-point underdogs today. We love that. We love it all."
The Wolfpack were led Saturday by fifth-year guard DJ Horne, who racked up 29 points on 9-of-15 shooting while navigating foul trouble for much of the second half. He fouled out with a little more than a minute remaining, when the game was all but in hand.
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DJ Burns Jr., who is listed at 6 feet, 9 inches tall and 275 pounds, also caused frequent issues for the Tar Heels with his bruising play in the post, finishing with 20 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
The result was NC State's first ACC tournament championship since 1987 − more than a decade before any of the current players on the team were born. That Wolfpack team was coached by the late Jim Valvano.
"We've been getting crushed − when I say we, NC State − by not delivering any championship in 37 years," coach Kevin Keatts said. "Well, they can't say that now because we got one tonight."
Before the team boarded its flight to Washington, Keatts instructed every player to bring something lucky with them. They knew the challenge that was ahead of them − and that a few good-luck charms wouldn't hurt.
The run started off simply enough, with wins over a pair of middling opponents, Louisville and Syracuse. Then it kicked into overdrive with Thursday night's win over second-seeded Duke, which had been considered one of the favorites entering the week. And with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Michael O'Connell that sent Friday night's game against Virginia into overtime, a hint of magic emerged.
"Everybody expected this to be Carolina and Duke," Keatts said after the Virginia game, which his team ultimately won 73-65. "Well, it's Carolina and NC State. We play pretty good basketball at NC State, too."
Keatts said he ate at the same restaurant, The Capital Burger, every day during the week in an attempt to keep the mojo going. He noted that NC State also had its morning shootarounds at the same D.C.-area high school every day.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the run isn't just the teams that NC State knocked off, including bluebloods Duke and North Carolina, but the fact that it played five games in five consecutive days.
When asked if he and his teammates emptied the metaphorical tank, Burns quipped: "I will say, my legs hurt right now."
With the win, NC State injected a bit of chaos into the NCAA Tournament field less than 24 hours before the bracket is revealed. The Wolfpack is expected to join North Carolina, Duke and Clemson as the ACC teams in the field; Its win could amount to disaster for Virginia, which was among the key teams on the bubble.
While Keatts lamented the expectation that more ACC teams won't get into the NCAA Tournament field, some NC State players were already looking ahead.
"I think if we stay consistent like this, we will make a run – like we just did," O'Connell said. "We've got to still focus on small details."
On a chaotic, crazy night, it was a familiar refrain: Why not us?
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.
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