NC State’s NCAA Tournament overtime win vs. Oakland a team effort 

PITTSBURGH — NC State graduate forward DJ Burns trotted into the Wolfpack locker room deep in the back hallways of PPG Paints Arena and he uttered a simple sentence in between breaths: “Man, I’m tired.”

Those three words, albeit a short phrase, embodied what Burns was able to do with the Wolfpack’s season on the line. NC State, an 11-seed, went to overtime with 14-seed Oakland in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and it left with a 79-73 win. 

Much of that was powered by Burns, the Pack’s do-it-all big man. He finished with a team-best 24 points, 8 of which came in overtime. 

But before the Rock Hill, S.C., native and his team took the floor for overtime against the scrappy Golden Grizzlies, Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts had a message for his big man: “Don’t let up.”

Why? Well, the Pack was going to have to lean on him. The other two centers, juniors Ben Middlebrooks and Mohamed Diarra, had four fouls each. Keatts knew Burns was going to carry the load, especially when that duo fouled out by the midway point of the added five minutes. 

Burns played a season-most 42 minutes against Oakland, and that phrase that Keatts told him resonated in overtime. The post player asserted himself on the court, even though he appeared to be gassed, and he channeled that saying from Keatts. 

“I knew they needed me, man,” Burns said. “[Keatts] said it so many times that as I’m going to get the ball, ‘Don’t let up,’ is something I started to say to myself.”

Burns was effective with the Pack’s first four points of overtime to keep it 1 point ahead of the Golden Grizzlies. He then scored the last two with free throws to salt the game away. 

But while Burns kept the Wolfpack afloat, it was timely shooting from his teammates that allowed NC State to take a 9-point lead with less than 20 seconds in overtime. 

Graduate guard DJ Horne, who scored 7 first-half points, was shutout in the second half. Though that was the case, he hit a clutch mid-range jumper to push NC State ahead by 3. After that, the dagger came with a junior guard Jayden Taylor three with 73 seconds left in the contest. 

Taylor caught a dime from Burns — the big man’s fourth assist of the game — and uncorked a triple that fell straight through the net. His three-pointer gave NC State a 5-point advantage, which it was able to hold onto the rest of the way. 

The former Butler transfer had scored just 5 points before that triple, but he didn’t hesitate when he had a chance to push the Pack ahead by two scores. 

“I just had confidence,” Taylor said. “I put in work day-in, day-out. I’m just taking my shot when they come to me.”

Taylor, a lights out defender that found himself on Oakland star Jack Gohlke much of the night, thought NC State stepped up when it needed to in overtime. The second half didn’t look pretty, but the Wolfpack was able to draw from its overtime win over Virginia in the ACC Tournament semifinals last week to put the Golden Grizzlies away. 

“We knew what was on the line: going home,” Taylor said. “I’d just say we nutted up and were blessed to have that five minutes. We knew what it was when we went to overtime. … We knew we were going to win in overtime.”

Taylor’s triple was a byproduct of Burns’ ability to draw attention in the post. He had double — and at times triple — teams all over him, but he was able to pass out of it. His dime to Taylor punctuated Burns’ ability to make plays without scoring. 

“When DJ gets going, it makes it easier for us guards on the perimeter,” said graduate guard Casey Morsell, who finished with 11 points. “He draws so much attention, and all we could do is just kind of stay ready, stay ready to shoot, stay ready to make a play. But when he’s going, we’re very hard to stop.”

NC State’s offense, which runs through Burns as both a scorer and a passer in the post, proved it had depth yet again. It has been the Wolfpack’s calling card in the postseason with multiple players that can make their mark, but it was solidified against Oakland. 

The Wolfpack played eight players, and five of them were in double figures with two more in single digits. That’s seven Wolfpack shooters with an impact on the win with a balanced scoring attack. 

It is an ironic statistic, considering how one-dimensional the team was early in the season. Now, its a sign of growth as the team heads deeper into March. 

“That’s the strength of our team and at one point it wasn’t,” Keatts said. “Early on it was either DJ Horne or maybe [Taylor] could have a good night. … So that’s kind of what makes us special right now. That makes us tough to guard because on any given night, one of these guys can lead us in scoring.”

The Wolfpack is a confident group as it readies for a trip to Dallas next week. Nearly every single one of its players has found a way to make their mark in the postseason run, going back to the ACC Tournament, which only makes the Pack a more dangerous squad. 

For Diarra, who logged 11 points and 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the postseason, it shows the trust the Pack has among its roster. That was born from the team’s preseason workouts. 

“We know everybody can hit big shots in big moments,” Diarra said. “That’s what we work for. We’re always in the gym and competing against each other every day. There’s no easy day when you have to go up against everybody else.”

While NC State is hitting its stride now, the Wolfpack has a much-needed break from games. The red and white just played its seventh game in 12 days, and the scoring options helped carry the load in this less than two week stretch. 

But now, with a Friday date with either 2-seed Marquette or 10-seed Colorado on tap, the Wolfpack can catch its breath. That includes Burns, who has scored in double figures in each of the last seven games. 

“I would pass out and probably die for this,” Burns said about finding more energy in overtime. “I wasn’t going to show it until I left the court.”

Burns showed it as he took a deep breath after he returned to the Wolfpack locker room after his dominant performance. Now, he can sit and relax before NC State’s biggest game in seven years at the end of the upcoming week in Dallas.