How DJ Burns, NC State beat Duke in Elite 8 to reach Final 4

Three spots are nailed down in the Final Four. Now, it's Duke vs. NC State for the fourth spot.

DJ Burns is a star on the court and a big personality off the court.

The Blue Devils are looking for their 18th Final Four trip.

DALLAS — As NC State players started to make their way to the American Airlines Center court about 40 or so minutes before tip-off against Duke, they were greeted with resounding cheers from the Wolfpack faithful. DJ Burns Jr. acknowledged the support with a few nods of affirmation and a sly smile as he and his teammates strolled past a few Duke players to their side of the court.

No pleasantries or greetings were exchanged, not that they were needed. These teams know each other well, having split two meetings this season, so I can't imagine there will be many surprises thrown either way as they try to secure the final spot in this year's Final Four.

"We know that when you get down to eight teams left in the entire country ... everybody is good, and even though we played them 18 days ago, it's a different team, and we're a different team also," NC State coach Kevin Keatts said Saturday.

PITTSBURGH — DJ Burns Jr. is holding court again. NC State’s gregarious giant with the gap-toothed grin is swarmed by reporters near his locker the day before an improbable appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Oakland. He is marveling at what an incredible stage he’s just stampeded onto. “That’s the beautiful thing about March Madness,” he says. “If there’s something interesting, they’re going to find it at this time of year.” Now is when previously undiscovered stars and compelling storylines get introduced to a national audience, in other words. So then what is it about Burns that has made America, about a year behind the entire city of Raleigh, N.C., fall in love with him this month?

“I would definitely say my size is 100 percent the reason. I think if I was a skinny guy, at 240 doing this, it wouldn’t even be looked at, at all,” says Burns, who is 6-foot-9 and more than 300 pounds, no matter what the official roster says. He pats his belly. “Even though we’re gonna get rid of this — and we are getting rid of it right now — it feels good to be different and have it work. I wouldn’t say I lean into it, but I think it’s cool. It gave me an avenue. It gave me a platform that most people don’t have, just because I’m unique.”

Burns does things few people of his proportions could, not that there are many NFL lineman-shaped people even endeavoring to play basketball. From the baseline spin moves to the silky-smooth lefty hooks to the dimes he drops out of double- and triple-teams to the softest touch you could ever want from a big man. “He’s like a polar bear,” NC State strength coach Pat Murphy says, “and a ballerina.” A dancing bear, in other words. Talking bear, too. Burns has a mouth on him, and he’s not afraid to use it.

After the Wolfpack stunned Duke in the ACC tournament with a raucous crowd behind them: “We know what it’s about. They ain’t really cheering for us, so we move on. Thank you, though. They were cheering for Duke to not win. There’s a difference.”

NC State players were asked Saturday about being a Cinderella.

Mo Diarra said he literally doesn’t know what it means. He asked DJ Jr. Burns off-mic to explain, and everyone laughed.

Burns on the title: “If that’s what you want to call it, that’s cool, but that’s not how we feel. I’ll just leave it at that.

DALLAS — As Duke took the court before Friday night’s Sweet 16 matchup with Houston, the large contingent of NC State fans who stuck around after their own Sweet 16 win let out a collective boo.

But down in the tunnel, there was a cute moment as NC State’s band walked past Duke’s band. They each said “A-C-C!” to each other. One Duke band member even did the Wolfpack hand gesture.

Two years after Duke and North Carolina met in the Final Four for that rivalry’s biggest game, Duke and NC State will meet Saturday in the Elite Eight, the biggest game in this rivalry. It’s the first NCAA Tournament matchup between these two schools less than 25 miles apart. But everyone involved seems to feel differently about this one. For the fans, it absolutely means more to have the rivalry aspect of this game. For the teams, the stakes of the Final Four are enough. At least that’s what they said Saturday. No one would take a bite and create and bulletin-board material.

“I was sitting with a group of friends watching the game last night, and of course everybody wants to know who you want to play,” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said. “I just said, when you get to this point, you’re blessed to play and take the opportunity to play whoever you get a chance to play. … I know for a lot of NC State fans, they were hoping it would be similar to ’83 and playing Houston.”

Duke’s coach echoed the same sentiment.

“Growing up as a player and as a coach at Duke, you learn very quickly it’s the best area in college for basketball,” Jon Scheyer said. “You have the triangle, and you add in Wake Forest all within an hour of each other, I think that’s unique. For me, it hasn’t gone into my mind at all about the fact of a rivalry, about the battles in past years against NC State. I think it’s just the respect level. We’ve always had big-time games against them, very competitive. They’ve had their style of playing. So have we.”

NC State has held its own in the rivalry recently, going 2-2 in the past four, 1-1 this year and 4-6 since Keatts took over as head coach.

But this is where Duke expects to be, as one of the most historic programs in the sport. The Blue Devils are looking for their second Final Four in three years. For NC State, in its first Elite Eight since 1986, this game is historic.

“It means everything to me,” NC State forward DJ Burns Jr. said. “Being from those two schools (Duke and UNC) is cool and everything, but you can do the same thing here. People can realize that.”

The bracket version of a scorigami.

Our staff picks for No. 4 Duke versus No. 11 NC State:

• Nicole Auerbach: NC State
• John Hollinger: Duke
• Brendan Marks: NC State
• Austin Mock: Duke
• Joe Rexrode: NC State

How Duke celebrated its Sweet 16 win: with plenty of water.

After 1,000,000 simulations, our model says:

• Duke 75.5
• NC State 68

DALLAS — As DJ Burns Jr. walked over to the roaring NC State fan section in the American Airlines Center, he held both forearms up, elbow down and palms facing the sky. Teammates followed with the same pose. A simple shrug and a smile.

That look sums up this current NC State team. An improbable run at a school known for some improbable runs, now heading to the program’s first Elite Eight in 38 years after handling No. 2 seed Marquette 67-58.

Where the heck did these guys come from? A No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A team that wasn’t even on the bubble until five wins in five days in Washington D.C. to win the ACC tournament. It’s now eight in a row.

“Why not us? We’re going to keep that going,” Burns said. “We get a lot of disrespect and people still don’t think we’re supposed to be here. We’re gonna keep trying to crash the party.”

NC State isn’t a Cinderella. Bid thief? Nah. What about Final Four thief? How can you doubt the Wolfpack anymore after they led the Golden Eagles for more than 36 of the game’s 40 minutes? Most of that time was a comfortable double-digit lead. This Marquette team ranked 19th nationally in offensive efficiency, but shot 33 percent from the field on Friday night and a putrid 4-of-31 from 3-point range, with many of those misses not even close.

The Wolfpack have the look and the feel of one of those classic March chaos teams that makes a run. They also have the look of a complete team. They’re deep, they’re versatile. They can play a variety of styles. Watching them makes you wonder how this team lost 14 games in the regular season. There’s no Cardiac Kemba here. When NC State needs a bucket, it can turn to a slew of players.

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Record: 25-14 (9-11 ACC)

Coach: Kevin Keatts (3-4 in NCAA Tournament)

Player to watch: DJ Horne (third-team All-ACC)

Strengths: NC State needed to win the ACC tournament to get into March Madness and it did. Scoring is NC State’s strongest selling point. Interior behemoth DJ Burns Jr. (6-foot-9, 270!) is a load to handle in the post. DJ Horne, Casey Morsell, Jayden Taylor and Michael O’Connell can be deadly from 3. NC State netted an outstanding 40.3 percent from distance over the regular season’s final month. NC State doesn’t turn over the ball a lot and grabs a lot of offensive rebounds.

Weaknesses: Like its color scheme, NC State is in the red defensively. During their final eight regular-season throwdowns, the Wolfpack ranked No. 220 nationally in points per possession allowed (1.212) and an even more deplorable No. 329 in effective field-goal percentage defense. Barf. More specifically, they yielded 54.4 percent from 2 and an even more horrendous 39.4 percent from 3. Passing a simple Defense 101 class is a necessity for the Wolfpack to survive and advance.

Outlook: Middling the entire ACC season, the Wolfpack howled at the moon over an unbelievable five-game ACC tournament stretch (in five days) to earn their right to dance.

—Brad Evans

Record: 27-8 (15-5 ACC)

Coach: Jon Scheyer (4-1 in NCAA Tournament)

Player to watch: Kyle Filipowski (first-team All-ACC)

Strengths: Duke has weapons. Kyle Filipowski is one of the best frontcourt players in the country and is versatile in how he can score. Freshman Jared McCain can take over a game, Jeremy Roach is an experienced guard capable of going for 20 and even Tyrese Proctor — who has been disappointing — is more than capable. Then add Mark Mitchell as a glue guy who defends, rebounds and can score when necessary. There aren’t too many teams capable of matching this starting group, especially talent-wise.

Weaknesses: The Blue Devils just don’t have a big-time defensive presence in the middle, as was the case a year ago with Dereck Lively II, and it makes them suspect when it comes to rim protection. Teams will go at Filipowski — who can be exposed on that end of the court. Proctor has also been ordinary for much of the season when the hope was he would turn into an All-American candidate.

Outlook: There aren’t many teams in the country that can match Duke’s overall talent and experience. Scheyer has a couple of likely first-round picks in Filipowski and Proctor, and McCain has shown he can carry the team if necessary from a scoring standpoint. Roach is a veteran capable of making big shots, and Mitchell has had his moments.

—Jeff Goodman