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Friedlander: NC State survives and advances in the ACC Tournament … at least for another day
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WASHINGTON DC – St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes.
At least in the Bible, he is.
When it comes to the basketball court, St. Jude’s never-wavering faith and optimism are embodied in the spirit of the late NC State coach Jim Valvano.
So it’s hardly a coincidence that the Wolfpack’s current coach, Kevin Keatts, evoked a phrase that became synonymous with Jimmy V on Tuesday after his team took the 1st step in its own impossible journey.
“It’s tournament time and everyone knows what’s on the line,” he said. “I think everybody is prepared to survive and advance.”
Valvano turned that concept into an art form by coming out of nowhere to win the ACC Tournament championship in 1983 before going on an even more improbable run to the national title.
He did it a 2nd time 3 years later by winning a 2nd ACC crown as a 6th seed.
The odds are even greater in this year’s ACC Tournament, which began Tuesday at Capital One Arena.
After starting the season 5-1 in the conference, State lost 10 of its final 14 to drop to the No. 10 seed. In order to add another chapter to its program’s legacy of overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds, it will have to make history by winning 5 games in as many days.
The Wolfpack cleared Step 1 by rallying from an early double-digit deficit to defeat 15th-seeded Louisville 94-85 behind an inspired 25-point performance by Casey Morsell.
The Wolfpack advance after a tough win ?✅@PackMensBball | #ACCMBB pic.twitter.com/tfHONuGomW
— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) March 12, 2024
The game will likely be the last for the Cardinals’ 2nd-year coach Kenny Payne, who despite offering an aggressive appeal to be given more time to rebuild, is expected to be fired sooner than later.
Keatts’ job could also have been thrown into serious jeopardy with a 4th straight loss to end the season. While he’s still not out of the woods, the longer the Wolfpack sticks around in this tournament, the better his chances are of returning in 2024-25.
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That, however, is a topic that won’t have to be approached for at least another day.
“All we know is we play at 7 o’clock against Syracuse and it’s a 1-game tournament,” Keatts said. “You’ve got to be able to win that 1 game to be able to advance and we’ll be locked in.”
The task won’t get any easier against Syracuse in the 2nd round on Wednesday. The 7th-seeded Orange won both regular season meetings between the teams and are 1.5-point favorites for the postseason rematch, according to FanDuel sportsbook.
If that wasn’t enough of a hill to climb, Keatts and his team could potentially have to play the game without leading scorer and 3rd-team All-ACC selection DJ Horne. The senior guard was held out of Tuesday’s win with a hip injury and will be a game-time decision against Syracuse.
Winning without him against a Louisville team that finishes the season 8-25 (3-17 ACC) is one thing. Doing it against a Syracuse squad that has 1st-team all-conference star power in guard Judah Mintz and comes to the nation’s capital hot after winning 5 of its final 7 regular season games is a much greater ask.
It’s going to take another big game from Morsell, a DC area native playing to extend his college career, and backcourt mate Jayden Taylor, who put up 18 points, 3 assists and 4 steals in his ACC Tournament debut.
It’s also going to take big man DJ Burns staying out of foul trouble, which he didn’t on Tuesday, and another unexpected life off the bench from the likes of seldom-used reserve Breon Pass.
But even if State should survive and advance again, it will still have more than halfway to go to get to the end of the only avenue it has left to be 1 of the 68 teams making it into the NCAA Tournament field next week.
The Wolfpack might not have the horses to pull it off. But they certainly have the urgency needed to at least give it a go.
“It could be our last game of the season and we don’t want it to end on this note,” said guard Michael O’Connell, who contributed 11 of his season-high 16 points in the 1st half to keep the Wolfpack within striking distance after falling behind 23-11 in the opening 7 minutes.
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PRE-REGISTER!“We know when we’re playing well, moving the ball and hopefully getting stops we can compete and win games. And we had that urgency coming out in the 2nd half.”
State outscored Louisville 49-39 over the final 20 minutes. But according to Taylor, it didn’t take the early deficit to light a fire under his team.
“I would say it was urgency from the beginning of the game, honestly,” he said. “I didn’t ever think we were going to lose. So we kept the same faith and just kept competing.”
While the mountain Taylor and his teammates have left to climb is a massive one, maintaining the same kind of attitude and intensity will be the easiest part of their impossible journey.
However long it lasts.
It is, after all, the NC State way.
RELATED: North Carolina online sports betting has gone live, allowing legal sports gamblers in the Tar Heel State the chance to place online wagers on the ACC Tournament, NCAA Tournament and more.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
