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NC State forward DJ Burns has become a college basketball sensation as the Wolfpack continue an improbable run to the Final Four. After winning five straight games to book that initial ticket to the Big Dance, the group has gone on to win four more contests to keep momentum going.
The latest win came over rival Duke and Burns absolutely showed out.
The big man, who side hustles in vending machine management, torched the Blue Devils to the tune of 29 points. And his dad was cheering him on every step of the way!
Every time DJ Burns scores a bucket his dad “Big DJ” points at his muscles. He’s been doing that a lot tonight. Burns has 16 points on 8-12 from the floor.
NCSU: 42
Duke: 3810:42 remaining in 2nd pic.twitter.com/KlK7VbwLoq
— Carolina Blitz (@KeepBlitzin) March 31, 2024
When the final buzzer sounded, NC State left with a convincing 12-point win over their conference rival to boot them from the Big Dance after having already eliminated them from the ACC Tournament a few weeks prior.
And looking back at that conference tournament, where this incredible run began, you can see how close the Wolfpack were to not even making this March Madness field at all.
NC State ended the regular season at 17-14 and well out of NCAA Tournament contention. They then took down Louisville, Syracuse, and Duke in order to match up with Virginia in the Semifinals.
A string of late missed UVA free throws and a miracle bank three at the buzzer kept NC State’s season alive.
Incredible to think what has come from this sequence pic.twitter.com/VNSeErW8PL
— Brian Rauf (@brauf33) March 31, 2024
The Wolfpack would win in overtime then knock of North Carolina in the conference championship to land an automatic Big Dance bid!
DJ Burns has found a second gear this postseason.
Since the start of the NCAA Tournament, the forward has posted scoring totals of 16, 24, and 29 while averaging over 18 points a night across four games.
While maybe not the most athletic man on the court, his quickness, basketball IQ, and ball handling ability make him a tough assignment for opposing defenders.
Another player to share those attributes is NBA star Nikola Jokic, who apparently tuned in to catch some of that Duke-NC State matchup.
Here’s what he had to say about Burns on Sunday:
“He’s amazing… I think he’s so skilled, especially lefty… Seems like his teammates like to play with him. That’d be a good guy.”
Nikola Jokic: CONFIRMED DJ Burns fan @beastboyburns
“I think he’s so skilled, especially lefty…seems like teammates like. to play with him. That’d be a good guy.”
Joker was watching NC State-Duke before his presser lol pic.twitter.com/XlhAOZQuhd
— RG 📷 (@RyanGreeneDNVR) March 31, 2024
Next up for DJ Burns and Co. is Purdue. Can they keep it going?