North Carolina State’s Final Four run ends against Purdue but it was a run to remember and savor

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North Carolina State Wolfpack forward DJ Burns Jr. (30) walks back down court during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four game against the Purdue Boilermakers, Saturday, April 6, 2024, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — With a little under seven minutes remaining and the game slowly slipping out of reach, D.J. Burns, Jr., tried one more of those drop-step moves to free himself from the clutches of Zach Edey.

It’s the move that had worked so many times this postseason, the move that brought America along for a joyous ride with North Carolina State across nine consecutive elimination games to reach the Final Four.

And, for once, it worked — sort of. Burns got the step on Edey, reversed under the basket and laid the ball in. But the reason Burns got to the rim so easily was soon revealed by the referee’s whistle: He had traveled.

For Burns and NC State, this NCAA men’s tournament was an amazing, historic run that will live forever in program lore.

But against Purdue, it was simply that kind of night.

“We just couldn’t get that momentum that we needed,” guard Casey Morsell said.

Getting beat 63-50 on this ultimate college basketball stage is not the story the Wolfpack will remember, though.

Because NC State, a No. 11 seed that played like giants in March, could have been sent home several times before now.

At 17-14 heading into the ACC tournament, this was a team hanging onto a thin strand of hope.

Against Virginia in the ACC tournament semifinals, it needed a missed free throw and a banked-in three to stay alive.

The Wolfpack needed overtime against Oakland to get to the Sweet 16.

And in the Elite Eight, NC State had to beat a rival from just down the road — Duke and its cadre of blue-chip prospects — to secure the program’s first Final Four appearance in 38 years.

“It’s been fun every step of the way,” guard DJ Horne said. “Every win we’ve gotten, it felt like a championship.”

But maybe it all finally caught up…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/north-carolina-states-final-four-020050094.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2024-04-07 02:00:50

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