2024 March Madness South Region Sweet Sixteen Recap

In a region where all the upsets and Cinderella runs derived from, one of them continued today for the 11-seeded North Carolina State Wolfpack. The Wolfpack defeated the two-seed Marquette Golden Eagles, 67-58 in a wire-to-wire effort. For a team that continued their success stemming from an ACC tournament trophy, Kevin Keatts has this team's eyes on something bigger. Showing their dominant frontcourt in today's game, DJ Burns would have his work cut out for him facing off against Iso Ighodaro. Igodharo would finish the game with six points and ten rebounds, while Burns only with four points and seven assists. The key to the win was Burns finding ways to beat the frontcourt of Marquette, not just scoring the basketball. With his assists to DJ Horne, who had 19 points and five rebounds, that was the difference maker in the contest. 

While the Wolfpack came out hot and stayed true, forward Mohamed Diarra would lead the team on the offensive boards, giving the team many second-chance opportunities. Diarra had 11 points while adding 15 rebounds. The attack on the glass showed the versatility the Wolfpack can come at you with while kicking many boards out for open threes. With shooting 31 percent from three compared to Marquette’s 4/31 shooting night, that was the difference down the stretch. This will end Marquette’s run and knock a Big East team out of the field. The Wolfpack will continue this magical run into the Elite Eight, where they are riding high winners of the last eight games. The true test will come next, versus the highly competitive foe they have seen twice, four-seeded Duke.

The battle between the Duke Blue Devils and Houston Cougars was one to live up to the hype, where both teams' styles clashed. The turning point in the game was when Houston guard Jamal Shead went down with an ankle injury in the game. He was deemed questionable to return to the game early in the second half after the X-rays came back negative. The experience was needed for the Cougars late down the stretch, and it was visibly lacking. That is where Duke used its talent to take over the game. Duke went on to close this one out in a rock fight, 54-51. In a very low-scoring first half, the teams combined for only 45 points, with the Blue Devils leading by one at the break. The shooting from both squads was not great, combining to make only three in sixteen attempts. With Jared McCain only scoring seven points after his red-hot performance against James Madison, Kyle Filipowski led the charge for the Blue Devils with 16 points and nine rebounds. Jeremy Roach gave the Blue Devils 14 points, with some crucial shots late. 

With Duke knocking off the first one seed in the tournament, they will head to the Region final on a winning streak, just like the foe Wolfpack. Both teams heading into the Elite Eight know a lot about each other, playing in the regular season once and the ACC tournament, in which NC State pulled out a 74-69 on the way to their title. The matchup between DJ Burns and Kyle Filipowski will be the factor on who can get the better of one another come Sunday. The backcourt battle between Tyrese Proctor and DJ Horne will be extravagant, complimenting one another’s play. Can this Cinderella 11-seeded Woldfpack knock off Jon Scheyer’s team for the second time in a row? Should be in for a good one in the South Region final.