PITTSBURGH — It’s not anarchy, it’s just college basketball.
In just under 48 hours, NC State men’s basketball went from a darling No. 11 seed to the villain in its matchup against No. 14 seed Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies had most of PPG Paints arena cheering them on, but graduate forward DJ Burns silenced the newly acquired Grizzlies’ fans with six points in overtime and 24 for the game.
Burns fully embraced the villain role, and his mentality sparked the Wolfpack (24-14) to a 79-73 victory over the Golden Grizzles (24-12) to send NC State to its first Sweet 16 since 2015.
“I enjoy things like that,” Burns said. “That’s a part of the game. The fans, they’re going to really come at you, especially when they have a team like that with the capabilities that they have, you gotta talk. You gotta have some fun with it.”
With every bucket Burns made, he had a taunt for the Oakland crowd directly across from the Golden Grizzlies’ bench. Whether it was putting one finger over his lip to shush the crowd or simply just staring them down, the big man always had a counter for the raucous crowd.
His 24 points didn’t come easy though. Every time he got the ball in the post, he was either doubled or the Grizzlies defenders played extremely physical on him. Burns said he felt he was fouled on many possessions, but they weren’t called. He didn’t let the no-calls faze him and kept going to work despite a poor whistle.
“It’s one of those games where I had the choice to get in my feelings about getting fouled or continue to play hard,” Burns said. “I just hit a point where I was like, ‘I just gotta ignore it because it’s not going away.’ So I just wanted to try my best to keep going for my guys.”
Burns was crucial to the Pack’s overtime run, but he couldn’t win it alone. Graduate guard DJ Horne and junior guard Jayden Taylor stepped up to close the door on the Golden Grizzlies late.
Horne splashed a mid-range jumper to stretch the red-and-white’s lead to three. Taylor then turned the lights out on Oakland’s season with a corner 3. With a five-point lead and only a minute left, the Wolfpack pulled away and the Golden Grizzlies never caught up.
There would have never been an overtime if it wasn’t for graduate guard Micahel O’Connell’s clutch and-one with under a minute to go. With the shot clock winding down, O’Connell surprised the defense and drove to the rim to give NC State a 66-64 lead.
“I mean, I was just taking what the defense was really giving me,” O’Connell said. “I tried to make go make a play. If they stepped up, I was going to kick it, but I felt like I could take a lay-up, and I tried to do what I could do to finish the play.”
The win didn’t come easy for NC State. National sensation and Oakland star Jack Gohlke fired up 3 after 3, hitting 6-17 from deep. With 16 triples in the first two rounds, Gohlke broke the NCAA record for most 3s in the first two rounds of the tournament.
While Gohlke showed why he’s a national star, his efficiency dipped against the Wolfpack’s tough defense. It wasn’t easy, but a team effort on Gohlke got the job done.
“Well, he’s dangerous, and you gotta pay so much attention to him,” said head coach Kevin Keatts. “I thought our guys did a really good job. We knew we couldn’t stop him from taking 3s, but we wanted him to take tough 3s and shoot a bad percentage, and I thought we did a great job with that.”
Gohlke’s primary defender was graduate guard Casey Morsell. From the minute Gohlke stepped foot on the court, Morsell stuck to him like glue and contested every shot. Working tirelessly to chase Gohlke, Morsell was crucial for the Wolfpack win.
“I’ve never played anyone who could shoot at that caliber,” Morsell said. “One thing that Jack does, he tests your awareness because he’s always moving, and in order to kind of slow him down you just gotta be in shape and you just gotta be aware where he is at all times.”
Junior forward Mohamed Diarra put on his own defensive masterclass. Seemingly every missed shot from Oakland landed in the waiting hands of the French man. Diarra’s height and motor made it impossible for the Golden Grizzlies to make a dent on the boards.
Diarra also gravitated to shots as they went up, smacking three shots away. Despite starting the game on an empty stomach, Diarra recorded his third straight double-double.
The win punched NC State’s ticket to the Sweet 16 — a first for every player on the roster. From transfer portal heroes to local legends, the Wolfpack will be energized to tackle another challenge.
“We’re going to the Sweet 16, guys,” Keatts said. “And this was a team that most people didn’t think we could even make it out of D.C. last weekend. I’m proud of their fight. I’m proud of just who they are and how we have really grown as a team.”
Next up, the Wolfpack will travel to Dallas, Texas, to take on the winner of Marquette and Colorado in the Sweet 16. The game marks NC State’s first appearance in the Sweet 16 in nine years, and a win would send the Pack to its first Elite 8 since 1986.
