How DJ Horne served as NC State's 'secret weapon' in ACC tournament win over Syracuse

WASHINGTON — NC State coach Kevin Keatts spent the Wolfpack’s shootaround Wednesday morning trying to stay away from star DJ Horne. The graduate guard missed the Pack’s ACC tournament-opening win over Louisville on Tuesday with a hip injury, and the seventh-year coach likely didn’t want to put pressure on him to play in the second round game. 

Later in the day, at 4:30 p.m., Keatts wondered if Horne could play against Syracuse. He texted the Pack’s training staff to find out and they said he was going to try to give it a go. But then when the team got to Capital One Arena, it changed: It depended on how he did in warmups. 

“I was like, you already told me he could go,’” Keatts recalled telling NC State’s training staff. 

Well, the warmup went well and Horne was officially active for the game. It took just under five minutes of game time for him to get into the game off the bench, but once Keatts summoned Horne to take off his red warmup sweatpants and white shooting shirt, the Cary, N.C., native was ready to go. 

Horne poured in 16 points in just under 20 minutes of action during his first appearance since he left the Pack’s loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday night. That helped power 10-seed NC State to an 83-65 win over 7-seed Syracuse on Wednesday night in the nation’s capital. 

Afterwards, Keatts thought Horne was a difference maker for the Pack.

“He was a secret weapon,” Keatts said. “Typically you don’t have your leading scorer as a secret weapon. … What a tremendous lift. He played well. We needed him to play well.”

But before Horne got rolling — all of his points came after halftime — he wanted to let the game come to him. He passed up a couple opportunities on the perimeter that he would likely have pulled the trigger on before the injury. 

But he knew the game was too important to waste possessions, and Horne allowed NC State’s offense to flow in the first half with him almost as a decoy. 

“I just wanted the game to really come to me,” Horne said. “I didn’t want to go out there and force it. This was my first time really going full speed against somebody else, so I didn’t know how I would really feel once I got out there.”

With Horne on the floor, Syracuse had to allocate a man to the more-than-capable guard that had a six-game stretch where he averaged 28.5 points a night last month. 

That allowed the Pack’s other guards to get going. Junior Jayden Taylor had 10 first-half points, while graduate guard Michael O’Connell had 8. 

“When he’s out there, it makes it easier for the rest of us,” O’Connell said. “A lot of teams are focused on him, and we can either give him the ball to score or he’s going to get us open to get shots. It’s great having him back to get going again.”

Graduate guard Casey Morsell thought NC State benefitted from what Horne brings to the squad. 

“He adds a great spark to the team,” Morsell said. “He can stretch the floor out on the offensive end. Having him back definitely adds a lot of pressure to the opposing team and we took full advantage of it.”

Horne’s first couple shifts ended with a pair of misses, but when he came off the court, he went to the locker room for a brief moment. After he returned from the back hallway of the Washington Wizards’ home, Horne shot a thumbs up to Keatts. 

And in the second half, the Pack’s leading scorer took over. He scored half of his points on NC State’s 21-2 run early in the final 20 minutes, which broke the game open in the Wolfpack’s favor. 

Horne capped the run with a steal that led to a two-handed flush at the rim — his first dunk of the 2023-24 season. 

It seemed like that hip was feeling just fine. 

“I had to get one, so no better time to do it until now,” Horne said with a laugh. “It felt good, so that’s a good sign, but I’m ready to get back and get started on the treatment again.”

Horne’s reappearance on the floor gave the Pack what it needed to avenge the two regular season losses the Orange handed them this season. And that dunk brought the Pack’s bench to its feet, nearly solidifying NC State’s win. 

“It’s been a long couple days for him throughout the week,” Morsell said. “He’s been doing everything he can to come back. The fact he was able to dunk it, oh my gosh, that was crazy. It was good to see.”

NC State was able to pull Horne off the floor with plenty of time left in the second half. It was time to rest the guard — to keep his injury from getting worse, while also keeping his legs fresh. 

Horne said he felt the day off on Tuesday was a big reason why he felt good enough to make a splash against the Orange. 

“That day yesterday of an extra day of rest definitely helped me out a lot,” Horne said. “Not playing the whole game today definitely helped me out a lot. I was glad we were able to get a lead and hold that.”

Horne joked he had not had any free time at this point of the Wolfpack’s trip to Washington, D.C., since he has been with the training staff at every waking hour. He will do the same ahead of NC State’s quarterfinal bout against Duke on Tuesday night. 

“Hopefully I feel this good tomorrow,” Horne said. 

For NC State’s sake, the Wolfpack will need the electric scorer to be well-rested for a 40-minute bout with the Blue Devils.