Wolfpack Trips Tar Heels For ACC Title, 84-76

Saturday, March 16

Washington, D.C.

8:30 PM

North Carolina

27-7,17-3ACC

NC State (Final)

22-14,9-11ACC

NC State

North Carolina

RJ Davis

Photo by: Maggie Hobson

March 16, 2024 | Men's Basketball

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By: Matt Bowers

WASHINGTON, D.C.—DJ Horne scored 29 points and DJ Burns had 20 points and seven assists as 10th-seeded NC State beat top-seeded North Carolina, 84-76, on Saturday night to win its first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship since 1987.

State became the first team to win five games in five days to capture the ACC title, snapping UNC's eight-game winning streak in the process. NCSU also clinched the ACC's automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

The Wolfpack (22-14) shot 59 percent in the first half and controlled the action for almost the entire game.

Carolina (27-7) clawed back to take a 40-39 lead at the half on a three-pointer in the final second by Cormac Ryan, but State continued its efficient offense after the break, shooting 50 percent in the second half and 54.9 percent in the game to claim the conference title.

"We just couldn't guard them tonight," said Tar Heel head coach Hubert Davis. "They shot, was it 54 percent, 55 percent from the field? That's just not going to get it done."

UNC shot just 28.2 percent in the second half, including 3 for 18 from three-point range. It was its second-worst shooting performance in a half this season. Carolina shot 37.3 percent in the game despite a 50 percent performance in the first half.

RJ Davis led the Tar Heels with 30 points, but the Wolfpack limited him to 10 for 26 shooting (4 for 13 three-pointers). He is the first Tar Heel to have four games of 30 or more points in a season since Antawn Jamison had four in 1997-98.

"Definitely disappointed," RJ Davis said afterward. "Got to the championship game and came up short. We didn't play our best basketball today. I know that was one of our goals going into the season, but we just came up short. Coach Davis always talks about our response and how we're going to respond when we get knocked down, so going into March Madness, we're going to have to prepare, come together as a group and fix the mistakes that we made tonight."

Armando Bacot posted his 85th career double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

The Tar Heels await their NCAA Tournament seeding and destination, which the NCAA will announce on Sunday evening.

How It Happened
First Half
• State jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the opening five minutes, making five of its first six shots while forcing Carolina to miss five of its first six.
• The Tar Heels rallied before the next media timeout, hitting five of seven shots to pull within six at 22-16.
• Davis hit back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 28-all with 6:24 until the break. He hit two free throws to give the Tar Heels their first lead at 30-28 with 4:50 remaining in the half.
• Davis finished the first half with 13 points and five assists. Bacot had eight points and seven rebounds.
• It was the fifth time in the last six games and 14th time this season UNC has shot 50 percent or better in a first half.
• DJ Burns had 11 points and six assists and DJ Horne had 13 points (and three fouls) at the break for the Wolfpack.
• State shot 58.6 percent from the floor in the first half, including 4 for 7 from three-point range. Carolina shot 50.0 percent (14 for 28) and made 5 of 12 three-pointers, three by Davis.
• Davis and Bacot both earned spots on the first team All-ACC Tournament Team.

Second Half
• State continued to shoot well in the second half (50.0 percent) to finish at 54.9 percent from the floor in the game overall.
• Meanwhile, the Tar Heels shot poorly throughout much of the half, missing 13 of their first 22 shots (including 5 of 7 three-pointers) in the first 15 minutes of the period.
• Carolina went scoreless for a span of over two minutes and allowed NCSU to up its lead to double digits in the final four minutes.

Postgame Tidbits & Notes
• Carolina is the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament for a record 27th time and is 53-16 as the top seed.
• The Tar Heels made their record 36th appearance in the ACC Tournament final.
• UNC is 18-18 in ACC finals.
• The Tar Heels are 108-52 all-time in ACC Tournament play, including 6-2 in Washington, D.C.
• Carolina is 166-81 all-time against NC State. UNC is 38-7 in the last 45 games in the series and 55-14 against the Wolfpack in the last 32 seasons.
• The Tar Heels are 12-5 against NC State in the ACC Tournament, including 4-3 in the finals. It was the first meeting between the schools in the championship game since 2007.
• The Tar Heels swept the regular-season series with NCSU with wins in Raleigh and Chapel Hill.
• UNC's 28.2 percent shooting in the second half was its second-worst shooting performance in a half this season (it shot 26.1 percent in the second half against Virginia).

2024 ACC Men's Basketball All-Tournament Team
First Team
DJ Burns, Jr. - NC State (MVP)
Armando Bacot – North Carolina
RJ Davis – North Carolina
DJ Horne – NC State
Michael O'Connell – NC State

Second Team
Quinten Post – Boston College
Mohamed Diarra – NC State
Carlton Carrington – Pitt
Ishmael Leggett – Pitt
Reece Beekman - Virginia

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