Photo by Kyle O Sullivan / Unsplash
By Charles Collier
NC State has been the surprise of the tournament. On March 29, 2024, they knocked out # 2 seed Marquette, beating them 67-58. DJ Horne scored 19 points, leading the Wolfpack to the win. Marquette missed 27 of 31 three-point attempts and they played tight. Marquette hadn’t reached the Sweet Sixteen since 2013.
On March 31, 2024, N.C. State beat Duke in the Elite Eight. DJ Burns, Jr., the heart and soul of the Wolfpack team scored 21 of his career 29 points and they breezed by Duke with a convincing 76-64 win. The Wolfpack advanced to the Final Four for the fourth time in team history (1950, 1974, 1983 and 2024). In 1983 another underrated team coached by the late great Jim Valvano, beat Houston on a last-second dunk by Lorenzo Charles.
With the win, N.C. State became only the sixth #11th seed to advance to the Final Four. “it usually takes a day to set in honestly”, Burns said after their victory Sunday over Tobacco Road rival Duke in the South Regional Final. N.C. State will face Purdue on April 6th, 2024. They will need to play at a high level to defeat Purdue.
The Purdue Boilermakers beat Tennessee in the Elite Eight 72-66 to advance to their first Final Four since 1980. Zach Edney led the way with 40 points and 16 rebounds. He made 13-21 of his shots from the field but shot a dismal 14-22 from the free-throw line. The big guy has been the most dominating player in the 2024 tournament.
Alabama upset #1 seeded North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen and beat Clemson in the Elite Eight to advance to their first Final Four in school history. UCONN is next up for Alabama. UCONN is the favorite to win back-to-back titles for the first time since Florida in 2006-07. UCLA is the only team to win consecutive championships multiple times. They accomplished that feat in 1964 and 1965 and again from 1967-73.
The 2024 UCONN Huskies are the cream of the crop! UCONN’s average margin of victory in their four games in the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tournament is 27.8. I opine UCONN will beat Alabama convincingly and beat Purdue in the championship game.