March magic carries Wolfpack into Elite Eight

DALLAS — DJ Horne scored 19 points and North Carolina State kept its magical NCAA Tournament run alive, beating Marquette 67-58 on Friday night to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1986.

Casey Morsell added 15 points and Mohamed Diarra had 11 points and 15 rebounds for the Wolfpack, who have eight consecutive victories since the start of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, which they had to win even to be a part of March Madness.

On the 50th anniversary of N.C. State's first national championship in 1974 — when the Wolfpack beat the Golden Eagles for the title — it's beginning to look a lot like the second one in 1983.

N.C. State (25-14), the 11th seed in the South Region, will face top-seeded Houston or No. 4 seed Duke on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four.

The last time the Wolfpack went that far 41 years ago, they had to win the ACC Tournament before the late Jim Valvano

sprinted around the court trying to find someone to hug after a still-talked-about upset of high-flying Houston for the title.

The lower-key Kevin Keatts is in charge of the latest unlikely crew, with a big personality between the lines in 6foot-9, 275-pound forward DJ Burns Jr., whose spinning layup and five assists helped the Wolfpack build a 13-point halftime lead.

The No. 2 seed Golden Eagles (27-10) couldn't overcome an unsightly shooting performance in their first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2013. They went 4 of 31 (12.9%) from 3-point range and shot 33.3% overall.

Kam Jones scored 20 points and point guard Tyler Kolek had 17 points and 10 rebounds as a Big East team lost for the first time in eight games in this tournament.

Third-year coach Shaka Smart is 0-2 in the NCAA Tournament in Texas with Marquette — including North Carolina's first-round blowout two years ago — after failing to win a tournament game in six seasons leading the Longhorns.

PURDUE 80, GONZAGA 68

Boilermakers big man Zach Edey withstood all the abuse the Bulldogs could lay on him Friday in Detroit, finishing with 27 points and 14 rebounds to lead Purdue to within one win of a spot in the Final Four.

Gonzaga leaned on, swatted and grabbed at the 7-foot-4 center — even slapped him across the forehead at one point — but it wasn't enough to stop either him or his topseeded team.

On Sunday, Purdue, which last year became history's second first-round loser as a No. 1 seed, will play Tennessee, an 82-75 winner over Creighton later Friday. A win would land the program in the Final Four for the first time since 1980.

Braden Smith had 14 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds for the Boilermakers, though this game, like most of them for Purdue (32-4), came down to the other team's inability to hold down the nation's leading scorer.

Fifth-seeded Gonzaga (27-8) gave it a go for 30 minutes, but foul trouble and an ever-shrining basket ended its hopes.

TENNESSEE 82, CREIGHTON 75

Dalton Knecht had 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, and the Volunteers moved within a victory of their first trip to the Final Four, beating the Bluejays on Friday night in Detroit.

Zakai Zeigler added 18 points and six assists for secondseeded Tennessee. When the Vols lost last year in the regional semifinals for the second straight season, Knecht was at Northern Colorado and Zeigler was out with a torn knee ligament.

Coach Rick Barnes' Volunteers (27-8) have matched the longest NCAA Tournament run in school history and hope to get farther than the 2012 team that lost by one point to Michigan State in the Elite Eight.

Third-seeded Creighton (25-10) reached the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years and fell a win short of equaling its first regional final appearance from last year.

Baylor Scheierman, a thirdteam All-America wing, had 25 points and six boards. Steven Ashworth added 16 points.