NC State basketball’s dream is alive. Wolfpack takes down Texas Tech in NCAA Tournament
N.C. State played its way into the NCAA Tournament with five emotional, inspired wins in the ACC Tournament, taking its first conference championship in 37 years.
The Pack wasn’t about to exit the NCAA’s quickly after that.
After Oakland had stunned Kentucky, after watching the Golden Grizzlies dance off the court Thursday, the Wolfpack turned back Texas Tech 80-67 in its NCAA South Region opener at PPG Paints Arena.
Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland had mentioned Wednesday that the Pack appeared to have willing and productive role players. He mentioned Ben Middlebrooks, a 6-10 junior transfer from Clemson.
Middlebrooks then filled an unexpected role Thursday: leading scorer, giving the Pack 21 points and non-stop hustle in his first NCAA game.
“He was great,” NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said after the NCAA victory, his first at N.C. State. “He did a little bit of everything for us -- defended, scored the ball, was very aggressive for us.
“Hopefully this is a breakout game for him. He always had it in him. Tonight, he played with so much confidence.”
D.J. Burns, despite foul problems, had 16 point as the Wolfpack (23-14) moved into a 7:10 p.m. second-round game Saturday with the Grizzlies (24-11). Add in a double-double from Mohamed Diarra — 17 points, 12 rebounds — and there will be a No. 11 seed (N.C. State) facing off against a No. 14 seed.
“Mo Diarra did everything, too, for us and was kind of an Swiss Army knife,” Keatts said. “Then, DJ (Burns) was our closer. He got in foul trouble but helped close the game for us.”
In the second half, Burns seemingly had everyone but Texas Tech fans urging him on, a crescendo of noise arising once the ball was in his hands.
“Like a folk hero,” Keatts said, smiling. “Everybody in Raleigh knows who DJ is. Now, everybody in America is trying to figure it out.”
Burns laughed it off, saying, “To be honest I had to take a second to block it out. You can get caught up in the moment. Once I got going, it was a lot of fun, the crowd cheering me on and seeing my teammates over there and their reaction. It was an amazing feeling.”
In the course of a few hours, Oakland became a feel-good story nationally as guard Jack Gohlke kept draining 3-pointers. It was loud in the arena — everybody but Kentucky fans teaming up to pull for the Grizzlies.
The atmosphere was more subdued in the final game of the day. The Pack led 37-33 at halftime and maintained it in the second half, once leading Texas Tech (23-11) by 17.
When Diarra slammed through a fast-break dunk with 10:54 left in regulation, the Pack held a 57-49 lead. The Wolfpack bench was alive.
Another Texas Tech turnover and a Casey Morsell fast-break score, and it was a 10-point spread for the Pack that grew larger.
Burns had picked up his third personal 1:41 into the second half. Texas Tech fans cheered as the big man left the game but some grimaced when seeing Middlebrooks coming back in so quickly.
When Burns later re-entered the game, Middlebrooks was given a standing ovation from Pack fans. And Burns promptly scored in a hook for a 12-point lead and had much of the crowd on his side the rest of the way.
If Burns was forcing and missing shots in the first half, and he was, Middlebrooks was getting tough shots and making them. Middlebrooks has been an energy source for the Pack all season and was again against Tech.
In 11 minutes of playing time, the 6-10 junior made four of his six shots from the field — all contested — and went 6-for-6 at the line is providing 14 points. Diarra was doing Diarra things, battling on the boards.
“They didn’t have any answers for our big guys. I think that was plainly obvious,” said Pack guard D.J. Horne, who had 16 points and made three of State’s five 3-pointers
Texas Tech’s Joe Toussaint, who had a team-high 16 points, rebounded a missed 3-pointer and Darrion Williams knocked in a 3 from the right corner at the first-half buzzer.
“They got a little momentum going into halftime,” Keatts said. “We knew we had to defend to win. We knew we had to defend the 3-point line. They had taken 14 threes at the half, and I told our guys they would take 30 and we had to make them shoot a poor percentage, and I thought we did.”
The Raiders were 4-for-17 on 3’s in the second half, closing at 7-for-31 for the game.
“I think down the stretch they just started to give in,” Horne said. “They didn’t play with the same intensity as in the first half.”
Before coming to Texas Tech this season, McCasland had gained a reputation as a coach who insists on scrappy defensive play. He got it again Thursday but it wasn’t enough.
Keatts was up and down the sideline as usual and had to like a lot of what he saw in the opening half after the first five minutes — especially from Middlebrooks. The Pack finished the game with more points off turnovers than the Red Raiders, more points in the paint and more bench points.
“I thought they were tougher than we were,” McCasland said. “I thought Middlebrooks and Diarra, their rebounding, their physicality. And then the combo of D.J. and D.J., inside and out ... their paint points were the difference. They kept us on their heels.”
This story was originally published March 21, 2024 at 11:29 PM with the headline "NC State basketball’s dream is alive. Wolfpack takes down Texas Tech in NCAA Tournament."
