The Pack is headed to the championship game for the first time since the 2007 season. NC State will face top-seed North Carolina in the title game. The game will tipoff at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.
NC State advanced past Virginia thanks to a buzzer beating three-pointer by Michael O’Connell to tie the game at 58 at the end of regulation. After the Pack missed a three-pointer, it fouled Virginia with 5.3 seconds to play. The Cavaliers had a chance to make a free throw to seal the win, but UVA missed the front end of the one-and-one. Casey Morsell rebounded the miss and passed the ball to Michael O’Connell who dribbled up the left sideline and let loose a three-pointer right in front of the NC State bench that banked in to send the game to overtime.
In overtime, Virginia struck first, but the Pack immediately went to DJ Burns, Jr., in the post and he scored to get the Pack back within one. After a UVA miss, Burns again scored to give the Pack its first lead of the extra period, 62-61, with 3:11 to go. UVA got a tip in dunk on its next possession, but Mohamed Diarra rebounded a DJ Horne miss for the Pack and laid it in to put NC State back in front. UVA had one answer in it, springing Ryan Dunn for a dunk to give UVA a 65-64 lead with 2:02 left, but the Cavaliers would not score again.
Burns put the Pack in front for good with a three-point play to make the score 67-65 with 1:43 to go.
The Pack got a stop on UVA’s next possession and on its ensuing possession Mohamed Diarra rebounded his own miss, passed back out to DJ Horne who found O’Connell under the basket to lay it in and give NC State a 69-65 lead with 45 seconds to go.
Virginia missed three-point shots on its next two possessions and Horne made all four of his free throw attempts to end the scoring and clinch the championship game berth for the Pack.
NC State finished overtime shooting 5-of-7 from the field and made all five of its free throw attempts.
Burns, Jr., led four NC State players in double figures with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Ben Middlebrooks and O’Connell each chipped in 12 while Morsell finished with 11.
Diarra finished one point short of a double-double as he contributed nine points and 12 rebounds. Diarra has now grabbed an ACC Tournament record 46 rebounds in the Pack’s four game in Washington, D.C.
NC State closed the game with a 40-26 advantage in points in the paint and a 20-3 advantage in bench points.
First appeared on gopack.com