Notre Dame, Ind. – NC State men’s basketball graduate forward DJ Burns, Jr., made a basket with 0.6 seconds remaining to give the Wolfpack a 54-52 win over Notre Dame Wednesday night.
The bucket gave the Pack its only lead of the game as NC State ended the game on an 8-0 run.
A lay-up by Julian Roper gave the Fighting Irish a 46-35 lead with 10:16 to play, but Notre Dame would only score six points the rest of the way.
The Pack closed within 46-41 on two Mohamed Diarra free throws with 5:40 to go, but Markus Burton responded with a bucket to push the lead back to seven.
Jayden Taylor immediately responded with a three-pointer to cut the deficit to four, but Burton again responded with a basket to push the lead back to six.
Two Ben Middlebrooks free throws brought the Pack within four, 50-46, but Notre Dame again had a response as J.R. Konieczny scored with 2:10 to play to put Notre Dame up 52-46.
Casey Morsell made a driving lay-up with 1:58 to go to bring NC State back within four and the Pack forced a turnover on Notre Dame’s ensuing possession and Taylor made two free throws on NC State’s next offensive possession to bring NC State within two, 52-50, with 1:13 to play.
Notre Dame missed the front end of a one-on-one, but the Pack missed on the other end to give Notre Dame the ball back with 38 seconds to play.
The Fighting Irish travel with 26 seconds to go and Burns made a lay-up with 13 seconds to go to tie the game at 52.
Notre Dame got one final chance as the Pack was called for a foul, but the Irish again missed the front end of a one-on-one which allowed NC State to setup for the final shot.
NC State shot just 28.8 percent from the field in the win. It’s the second-lowest shooting percentage in the Kevin Keatts era and only the third time with Keatts as head coach that the Pack has shot under 30 percent.
Burns led NC State with 13 points while Taylor was the only other NC State player to reach double figures with 12.
Michael O’Connell led the Pack with seven rebounds.
NC State only turned the ball over four times while forcing 13 Notre Dame turnovers.
The Fighting Irish opened up a 26-14 lead on a Markus Burton three-pointer with 6:28 to play in the opening half, but NC State responded with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to four on a Jayden Taylor basket with 2:56 left in the first half.
Notre Dame ended the half on an 8-4 run to take a 34-26 at the halftime break.
The Pack shot just 35.5 percent, including 18.2 percent (2-for-11) from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes. The 26 points were the fewest NC State had scored in the first half this season.
NC State is back in action Saturday afternoon when it hosts Virginia. Tipoff at PNC Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be televised on the ACC Network.