Final Four: NC State soaking in the moment ahead of tall task in Purdue
PHOENIX (WTVD) -- NC State's men's basketball team faces No. 1 Purdue on Saturday night with hopes of heading to the championship.
On Thursday, the Wolfpack fulfilled its media obligations -- and there were many -- as the Wolfpack is seen by most as the darling of the Final Four.
Only 90 minutes of the day's schedule was devoted to practice for the showdown with No. 1 seed Purdue, but the Pack was intent on mixing some business with the pleasure.
Local and national media outlets descended on the players, eager to hear from the ACC champions who have won nine consecutive games in their quest for what seemed just two weeks ago an impossible national title.
"I think all the time about when I was a kid, you know you think about the moments like this, as a basketball player, you know, you dream about, you know, having memories and being able to make moments like this, so just to be here right now, it's just, just crazy," said NC State guard DJ Horne.
Crazy. DJ Burns Jr. carried on that theme amid the whirlwind of coverage.
"Oh man, it's a crazy experience, you know it took six years to get here," Burns said, referring to his progression from high school to three different universities. "So, it's like, you know, a little bit of that work paying off finally."
A crazy, good time for players and the fans -- who have hungered for this feeling since Jim Valvano's "Cardiac Pack" won it all in 1983.
You come here, then you keep hearing 1983," senior guard Casey Morsell said, "so it's just like, to have your own, the opportunity to have your own recognition, to have your own opportunity to go and make history."
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At the Thursday news conference, NC State coach Kevin Keatts said he wanted to day to be evenly split between fun and business. He said that for Friday, he wants 75% business, and then for Saturday's game, it's all business.
"We expected to be here. I know people don't believe that," Keatts said. "But in our mind as a team, this is not a fluke."
It's a tall task for the Wolfpack, an underdog to Purdue and its 7-foot-4 star, Zach Edey.
"I think it'll be fun, two guys who like to play with their back to the basket," Burns said two days before matching up with Edey. "Similar games in the sense of not trying to do too much and shoot 3s and do all that other stuff that bigs try to do nowadays - taking themselves away from what they're good at."
The 6-9 Burns is listed at a seemingly conservative 275 pounds, and he has bumped, jostled and battered defenders out of position before using a soft touch to score around or over them. That powered the 11th-seeded Wolfpack's run through the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and on to the program's first Final Four appearance since that magical 1983 run.
Just as effective was Edey's 40-point performance in a regional final against Tennessee, which included getting to the foul line 22 times to get Purdue to its first Final Four since 1980.
Edey is averaging 30 points and 16.3 rebounds while shooting 65.6% through four tournament games. His "quiet" game was a 23-point, 14-rebound effort during a second-round romp against Utah State.
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Burns is averaging 18.3 points and shooting 67.4%, including 29 points on 13-for-19 shooting in the Elite Eight win against ACC rival Duke. And the scoring comes from an array of nimble spins, pivots and dropsteps that blend with a silky soft touch both in shooting or passing out of double teams.
"Watching it on the court, it's pretty cool," Wolfpack guard Michael O'Connell said. "It makes my life easier, my job easier, throwing it in there and letting him go to work."
"I think everybody probably needs to go out and get a big guy now," Keatts said. "These are trends. It was trending toward nobody would play with their back to the basket. We're in the Final Four, three guys have led their teams to the Final Four because of the way they play."
ABC11's Travon Miles and The Associated Press contributed.
