NC State was in desperate need for a win tonight against crosstown rival #16 Duke.
Entering the game NCAA Tournament Bracketologist Bart Torvik gave NC State a 45% chance of making the tourney if they beat the Blue Devils. If they lost? 9%.
The Wolfpack simply don’t have a lot of Quad 1 win opportunities on their schedule.
A victory wasn’t going to be easy for NC State tonight after learning that Jack Clark would be out indefinitely today.
So how did they do it?
Well, the Wolfpack guard duo of Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner combined for 45 points, and fan favorite DJ Burns scored an audacious 18 points in 16 minutes of play.