DJ Burns Jr. delivered a classy message despite seeing the NC State Wolfpack fail to make it past the Purdue Boilermakers in the Final Four.
Burns and the Wolfpack had been one of the best stories of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. They entered as an 11th seed and weren’t expected to make it even past the second round, let alone reach the Final Four. But to everyone’s surprise, they defied the odds and pulled off upsets after upsets.
On Saturday, unfortunately, it came to an end.
NC State Wolfpack vs. Purdue Boilermakers
Burns and the Wolfpack put up quite the fight against the no. 1 seed Boilermakers, with DJ Horne stepping up big time to keep NC State in the game … at least until the latter stages of the second half.
However, even with Horne’s 20 points, the Wolfpack just had no answer for Purdue big man Zach Edey, who tallied a monster 20-point, 12-rebound double-double. The Boilermakers never really trailed in the game and went on to take the 63-50 victory.
Edey shot 9-of-14 from the field, while Lance Jones and Letcher Floyer helped him offensively and chipped in 14 and 11 points, respectively.
As for NC State, Jayden Taylor was the only other player to reach double digits in scoring with 11 points. Burns, for his part, was limited to eight points on top of four rebounds and one block. Against Edey, Burns’ skillset and footwork were dealt largely ineffective, and it didn’t help at all that he got into foul trouble guarding the big man.
“I don’t know that I could be more prouder of a group of men that I’ve coached in my life,” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said of the loss, via CBS Sports. “We’re going to leave out of here because Purdue won the game, but we’re going to walk out as champions.”
DJ Burns Jr. Reacts To NC State Wolfpack’s NCAA Tournament Run
Much like his head coach, DJ Burns Jr. has his head high despite the loss. Sure they didn’t make it past the Final Four, but he’s glad it still happened. What they accomplished this 2024 will definitely be forever remembered in NC State Wolfpack history.
“Just to be a part of this has been everything I could ask for. Didn’t got the way we wanted to go out, but man, this has been an experience like no other. It’s something that I wanted in my whole life, and to be able to do it with the group of people that we have, it’s just amazing man,” Burns shared, per TSN.
In a message to NC State and the Wolfpack faithful, Burns added: “I hope we give them something they can build off of next year.”
Burns certainly couldn’t have said it any better. While it’s sad to see NC State’s journey end in the Final Four, there is no denying that they proved to everyone that they are more than capable of competing with the best of the best. NC State embodied what March Madness is all about, and the run they had will surely go down as one of the best moments in the program’s history.
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