NC State
NC State's DJ Horne talks about advancing to the Final Four
NC State eliminates Duke from the NCAA Tournament 76-64 and advances to the Final Four.
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NC State eliminates Duke from the NCAA Tournament 76-64 and advances to the Final Four.
First half, did you guys punch back? What did you see, like when you started to flip it and get that lead? Did you sort of sense when you could take control of the game? Uh, I mean, well, we knew that coming in, they were gonna be aggressive defensively, uh, just because of the way the last game went. But, uh, honestly, uh, we were getting everything we wanted. We just couldn't throw a rock in the ocean in the first half. Uh, we knew that that's why we came into the locker room and we worked down on ourselves. We taught ourselves that we were gonna be good to keep playing the same defense and, uh, the shots will fall and that's what they did when the realization sets in that this thing is done to us. You're gonna win this game and go to the final four. What does that feel like? Yeah, I was just trying as hard as I could to, uh, to keep all my motions in check and not, you know, get to doing nothing too crazy or trying to celebrate too much, uh, with the game, not officially being over here, Riley. Dude, what did you think about the NC State fans who made the trip, man? Big shout out to Wolf Pack Nation for uh making this trip, man. Uh We love the support. I think you might have actually had Duke beat today. Um So, you know, I, I've never seen that before, at least in this, this regular season. Um But yeah, man, you know, the job's not done, I bet. See everybody in Phoenix. What's this feeling like? Uh I feel like I'm on top of the world right now and then for your health special to be a part of the team basketball back to the final four or 1983. It feels great and it just kinda, it just makes me look back on, you know, my whole reason of why I came here, uh, me and Keith talked in on day one about, uh wanting to do this, want to bring it, bring NC State in, uh AC C championship, uh, and, you know, a national championship and the fact that we're doing that and we're only, what, two games away from being there. Uh It's a, there's a, there's a stretch in the second half where you guys, I'm on that 12 2 run and it got a little chippy, the fouls are going back and forth, but you guys never looked like you were out of sync or you never looked confused by it. Just what does that say about this group? Why would you guys be able to stay so poised? Uh I think we've just been uh relying and falling back on. What's got us here. We've been in situations like this. Uh we face five elimination like season ending games, uh in DC. And I felt like that really helped us prepare for this right here, um to stay connected together when we decided to face it. Basically DJ just told us that Coach Keith came in the locker room at half and was happy and he said it was kind of weird. What can you tell us about that conversation that he gave with you guys? Yeah, you know, we were still, uh connected, obviously, we were down. So, you know, we're not in here laughing, joking around and everything like that. But he came in the locker room with base file on his face. He started clapping and tried to get the energy and, uh, you know, I honestly feel like that's why we're here now. Uh, you know, for us to lose the last four of the regular season, you know, it was, could have been easy to just go in there and quit in the AC C tournament. We wouldn't even be talking right now. Uh, but he's, he's, he's done a great job of keeping everybody together, keeping the outlook on our season, uh, very popular because it's the guys from down the street that we need to get to the final. I mean, it's always sweet to beat your rival. Um, I don't even think, you know, like, right now I just can't process my thoughts. Um, I always was a kid, you know, dreaming of either playing for Duke or, you know, playing against them and, uh, to, to end my, or I wouldn't say in my college career, but to know that I'm never gonna play them again and I, you know, went out on a high note. I know. That's great.