N.C. State stunned the crowd at the Captial One Arena on Thursday, holding onto upset No. 11 Duke, 74-69, in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
The Wolfpack led most of the game, paced by four starters in double figures and guard D.J. Horne's 18-point performance off the bench. For NC State, it's their third victory in as many days to advance to the conference tournament's semifinals for the first time since 2014.
3J☄️
— NC State Men's Basketball (@PackMensBball) March 14, 2024
:ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/paEbO5MzDW
Beautiful Basketball
— NC State Men's Basketball (@PackMensBball) March 15, 2024
: ESPN pic.twitter.com/Pb8Fw1O3Ps
Along with Horne, point guard Casey Morsell finished with 11 points and guard Michael O'Connell recorded 12 points in the victory. Meanwhile, forwards DJ Burns Jr. and Mohammed Diarra had 12 and 14 points, respectively.
Center Kyle Filipowski paced the Duke offensive effort, finishing with a game-high 28 points and 14 boards before fouling out late in the game.
The contest wasn't without controversy. N.C. State was up two possessions, 71-67, before Ben Middlebrooks gave Duke life after hanging on the rim following a missed dunk.
An opening for Duke here after N.C. State's Ben Middlebrooks A) misses a wide open dunk and B) gets called for a tech for hanging on the rim with 30.3 seconds left. Blue Devils down 5 and going to the line.
— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) March 15, 2024
Duke cut the deficit to two, 71-69, with 21 seconds left, but N.C. State was able to hold on for the victory. Now, they await the winner of Virginia vs. Boston College.
We’re getting pretty good at this, right? pic.twitter.com/a218pD94gF
— NC State Men's Basketball (@PackMensBball) March 15, 2024
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