N.C. State Wolfpack
Record: 22-13
Head coach: Mark Gottfried (3rd season)
Season summary: It's been a turbulent season for the Wolfpack, perhaps the most surprising team to earn an at-large bid this March. N.C. State started the season 2-2 thanks to losses at the hands of Cincinnati and North Carolina Central. The Wolfpack's struggles continued with losses to Missouri, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Duke, dropping the team's record to 11-7 by mid-January. Behind the prolific scoring of ACC Player of the Year T.J. Warren, N.C. State strung together a few wins down the stretch. A win against then-No. 11 Syracuse in the second round of the ACC tournament was the impetus the selection committee needed to usher the Wolfpack into a play-in game against Xavier. Warren's 25 points in conjunction with 17 from Ralston Turner pushed N.C. State past the Musketeers and into a date with St. Louis.
How they make a run: Warren takes his already-elevated scoring to another stratosphere as some of his teammates step up with surprising scoring outputs of their own—as Turner did Tuesday night.
How they falter: St. Louis keys in on Warren and nobody else on the Wolfpack roster can score enough points to keep N.C. State competitive against the No. 5 seed in the Midwest.
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