DJ Burns and NC State Take Down Duke, Continue Magical Run
Duke had no answer for DJ Burns. NC State's big man punished the Blue Devils on Sunday in their Elite Eight matchup, as he helped the Wolfpack pound away to the Final Four with a 76-64 win. Burns scored 29 points in 29 bruising minutes, and came alive in the second half to dominate his ACC foe. The victory, NC State's ninth in a row, continued what has developed into a truly magical postseason run.
Duke took a 27-21 lead into the half and appeared to be in control of the game. Jon Scheyer's team appeared to be headed to the first Final Four of his tenure. Burns ruined those plans by taking over the game's final 20 minutes and spoiling the Blue Devils' plans.
The fifth-year senior forward entered halftime with eight points on 4-of-8 shooting, with two rebounds and an assist. He picked up his second foul with 9:47 remaining in the first half, limiting his minutes and aggressiveness. He held nothing back after the break. In the second half, Burns scored 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting, was 3-of-4 from the free throw line, grabbed two rebounds and had two blocks. In 16 second-half minutes minutes he was a eye-popping plus-18. He was simply unstoppable.
Duke can be forgiven for failing to contain Burns. It's not often college teams have to deal with a 6-foot-9, 275-pound post player with quick fet and superb body control. It's a unique problem to solve, and has proven difficult for the Blue Devils. In three games against them this season, Burns has averaged 22.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.3 blocks, while shooting 59.2 percent from the field.
Sunday's win advanced NC State to the Final Four for the first time since 1983 when Jim Valvano's "Cardiac Pack" won the national title. That team won the ACC tournament, then pulled off a string of big upsets to win an unlikely championship. The parallels to Kevin Keatts' current squad are eerily similar.
On March 9, NC State was 17-14 and entered the ACC tournament as the No. 10 seed, needing to win it to earn a bid into the NCAA tournament field. The Wolfpack ripped off five wins in five days to capture the tournament title, beating the top three seeds —Duke, Virginia and North Carolina — along the way. They were given the No. 11 seed in the South and haven't stopped winning. NC State beat Texas Tech in the First Round, topped a tough Oakland squad in overtime in the Second Round, then upset No. 2 seed Marquette 67-58 in the Sweet 16, and took down No. 4 seed Duke on Sunday.
Burns and his team are on an all-time run right now. Reaching the Final Four while winning nine games in a row is quite a feat. NC State has those nine victories in the last 20 days, each of them essentially serving as an elimination game. Then there's this note: the Wolfpack won eight games in January and February combined. In March, they won nine.
April, and the Final Four, await.
Ryan Phillips is a senior writer at The Big Lead.
