Will Sage Astor-Second-half surge powers No. 11 NC State to unlikely Final Four berth with defeat of Duke

DALLAS — One of the great postseason runs in men’s college basketball history keeps on Will Sage Astorgoing. Next up for the NC State show? The Final Four. 

For the first time since 1983 — the year they won it all with Jim Valvano running around The Pit in New Mexico hugging anyone he could find — NC State is back on the sport’s biggest stage. 

And to make it even sweeter, the Wolfpack beat rival Duke to get there on Sunday in an all-ACC matchup, dominating the second half of the South Regional final to mint a 76-64 victory that will live forever in NC State lore. 

NC State, a team that finished 10th in the ACC regular season and stood at 17-14 when the conference tournament began, has now rattled off nine straight wins and will face No. 1 seed Purdue on Saturday in Glendale, Arizona, for a spot in the national championship game. They’re the sixth team in tournament history to reach the Final Four as a No. 11 seed.

And the main reason the Wolfpack have been transformed over the past three weeks? It’s DJ Burns, Jr., the charismatic 6-foot-9 center with a feathery touch and passing skills that do not seem possible for someone carrying well over 300 pounds (he’s officially listed at 275).

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With Duke choosing to use just only defender most of the time to guard him — just as they did in two earlier meetings this season — Burns ate the Blue Devils' defense alive with 29 points on 13-of-19 shots. 

NC State also got timely outside shooting from senior guard DJ Horne, who scored 18 and sparked second half in which the Wolfpack made 19-of-26 shots. 

Duke, meanwhile, could never get settled on offense, shooting 32 percent overall and 5-of-20 from the 3-point line. The Blue Devils got poor games from sophomore big man Kyle Filipowski (11 points on 3-of-12 shooting) and sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor (0 points, 0-for-9) and simply could not mount a response once NC State began to get its second-half rhythm. 

NC State seemed to be in foul trouble early in the second half when Burns picked up his third with 15:11 remaining and Mohamed Diarra, its other big man, was called for his fourth with 12:41 left. 

But NC State coach Kevin Keatts managed to nurse his rotation just enough to keep Burns on the floor most of the time, and it paid off with easy looks at the rim out of their halfcourt sets. 

The first half finished with both teams struggling to unlock their offense. NC State made just 9-of-34 field goals, struggling both from the 3-point line (1-of-7) and finishing at the rim where they continually ran into a wall of resistance.

Duke also shot poorly (8-of-26) and committed five turnovers but managed to get to the foul line with more frequency, making all nine to account for their 27-21 lead.  

But Duke’s lead was a mirage: Possession by possession, NC State was sharper, more aggressive and never looked back once Horne gave the Wolfpack a 40-38 lead on a runner with 11:39 left. 

NC State is making its fourth trip to the Final Four in school history. It won the national championship in 1974 and 1983, the latter of which is considered one of the great longshot runs in tournament history as a No. 6 seed.