With the game tied and just four seconds left to go, there was only one person the ball was ever going to — graduate forward DJ Burns.
With the clock ticking down, Burns took two dribbles toward the free throw line, hit his defender with a pump fake that sent him flying, then stepped forward and laid the ball in with just 0.6 seconds left. The “Smooth Operator” gave his team the first lead of the night and finished off an 8-0 run that helped NC State snatch a 54-52 victory from the jaws of defeat.
The Wolfpack (10-3, 2-0 ACC) won a game that featured its worst-scoring first half of the season, a 29% field goal percentage and a combined 12-for-42 from the field by its top three scorers. It was an offensive struggle all game for the Pack, largely due to Notre Dame’s (6-8, 1-2 ACC) suffocating defense that disrupted NC State’s offensive rhythm and forced many tough shots. The Fighting Irish led for 39 minutes and 54 seconds, but in college basketball, every second matters.
It may be a new year, but it was the same old Wolfpack that started the game slow and found itself in a 14-4 deficit to start the game. The Pack allowed the Irish to make five of their first six shots and struggled to crack Notre Dame’s defense, scoring just seven points in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Notre Dame’s plan coming in was to force NC State to get most of its points one-on-one and force tough contested shots, and it executed perfectly as it held the Pack to just 11 made field goals in the first 20 minutes on a mere three assists.
Graduate guard DJ Horne was the focal point of the Fighting Irish’s defense, making sure to tightly contest every shot he took, which resulted in eight points on 3-9 shooting in the first half for the Pack’s leading scorer. This was Horne’s worst game in a Wolfpack uniform, finishing the night with eight points on an abysmal 3-14 from the field. Horne wasn’t the only one who struggled — graduate guard Casey Morsell shot 3-10 and junior guard Jayden Taylor went 3-13.
These poor shooting performances led to NC State’s lowest-scoring first half of the year, and the team headed to the locker room down 34-26 with no momentum on its side.
Much like the first half, the Pack once again started the second half slow, only scoring nine points in the first 12 minutes. This wasn’t due to a lack of effort, though, because the Pack came out of the half with much more energy, crashing the offensive glass and grabbing seven offensive rebounds in the first four minutes. NC State could not convert on many of its second-chance opportunities, whether it was missed shots near the rim or coming up short on kick-out 3-pointers.
While the Wolfpack continued to struggle to score, it notched up its defense in hopes it would turn into offense. The Pack has thrived at turning teams over, as it entered the game third in the ACC in turnovers forced per game, and that was no different against Notre Dame, as it forced 13 turnovers with one leading to the game-tying basket. Trailing by two with just under 30 seconds left in the game, the Fighting Irish committed a traveling violation due to NC State’s full-court pressure. On the ensuing possession, Burns capitalized and made a layup to tie the game.
Most fans of Wolfpack basketball aren’t used to seeing a gritty defensive effort, but the red-and-white stepped up in the final period, holding Notre Dame to just 18 points for the half and no points in the final two minutes of the game.
Head coach Kevin Keatts likely won’t be pleased with how his team played for most of the game, but it’s always better to learn from a win than a loss, especially when the win is against a conference opponent on the road, which isn’t easy to come by.
NC State now has two road ACC wins on its resume and showed it can win in different styles with a high-scoring overtime win against Boston College and now a defensive battle against the Fighting Irish.
Now, Wolfpack nation can look forward to the ACC home opener when it matches up against Virginia on Saturday, Jan. 6. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on the ACC network.
