NC State, 10th seed in ACC, starts Cinderella March Madness run early after miraculously winning conference

This is March, Jim Valvano is smiling down somewhere.

Prior to the ACC Tournament, N.C. State was probably out of March Madness – but a miracle run has put them in.

The North Carolina State Wolfpack, the No. 10 seed in the ACC Tournament, completed their wild tournament run by winning the conference after their 84-76 win over No. 1 UNC in the final.

N.C. State pulled off upsets in their final four games to win the conference, but their victory in the final was perhaps their most impressive.

With their recent play, it was impossible for the Tar Heels to take N.C. State lightly, but when UNC led by just one at half, it was a ballgame.

N.C. State took a 45-43 lead with 18:17 to go, and never relinquished it. They got up to eight with less than nine minutes to go, but UNC cut their deficit to three quickly. However, the Wolfpack responded with an 13-5 run to go up 11 with 3:32 to go.

UNC forced a couple of costly turnovers to get back to within seven, but they were unable to take full advantage, and N.C. State went up 12 after knocking free throws with under a minute left, all but icing it.

DJ Horne led the wolfpack with 29 points before fouling out – DJ Burns Jr. added 20, while big man Mohamed Diarra grabbed 14 rebounds to go along with his 11 points.

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The Wolfpack beat No. 15 Louisville, 94-85, in the first round, then manhandled No. 7 Syracuse in the second round with a 83-65 victory.

The madness started in the quarterfinals against No. 2 Duke, who could have earned a top seed in the March Madness tournament had they won it all. But the Wolfpack stunned everyone, winning 74-69 as 11.5-point favorites – shades of Valvano’s 1983 team that survived and advance.

N.C. State was just seconds away from their Cinderella run ending in the semifinals, but a buzzer-beater three forced overtime in the semifinals, and they eventually beat No. 3 Virginia, 73-65.

Who knows what seed the Wolfpack will be – they’ll find out so on Sunday. But after five games in five days, they’ll have at least four days of rest before getting back on the floor.

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