North Carolina State upset No. 4 seed Duke to advance to Sunday’s Final Four, and Wolfpack big man DJ Barnes mocked Blue Devils star Jared McCain on social media after the game.
Barnes posted a video on his Instagram Story of teammate DJ Horn hitting a 3-pointer after McCain hit a pump fake.
He then edited a clip of Mr. McCain dancing.
McCain is known for posting videos of himself dancing on his TikTok account, and has long been teased online for his dancing and painted nails.
Ironically, while Burns may be making fun of McCain because it’s easy, McCain was the reason Duke had a chance in this game.
The 6-foot-3 guard had 32 points and six rebounds. Those 32 points accounted for half of Duke’s total points. No other Blue Devil player finished with more than 13 points.
North Carolina State University waived Duke star Kyle Filipovski. The big man finished with just 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting from the field.
McCain’s 32 points may have led all scorers, but Barnes led his team to victory with 29 points on 13-of-19 shooting, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.
His performance caught the attention of two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.
Jokic praised the Wolfpack’s big man after Sunday’s dominant performance in which the Nuggets center had 26 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists.
“He’s great,” Jokic said. “I think he’s very skilled, especially left-handed. I love being left-handed. My teammates seemed to like playing with him. Gotta be a good guy.”
North Carolina State’s miraculous run continues Saturday when it faces its toughest test yet against Zach Eady’s top-seeded Purdue Boilermakers in the first Final Four game in Phoenix.
Eady scored a career-high 40 points against Tennessee on Sunday, surpassing Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht, who finished with 37 points apiece, leading Purdue to its first Final Four appearance since 1980.
The Wolfpack has won nine straight games since ending the regular season at 17-14 with four straight losses.
They cruised through the ACC Tournament, securing a spot in March Madness, defeating Duke University and the University of North Carolina along the way, and defeating Texas Tech University, Oakland University, and Marquette University in the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
