The Texas Tech Raiders face the NC State Wolfpack in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 21, 2024 (3/21/2024) at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
How to watch: Fans can watch the game for FREE via a trial of DirecTV Stream and fuboTV, which is $20 off this month. You can also watch via a subscription to Sling TV, which is 50% off the first month.
Here’s what you need to know:
What: 2024 Men’s NCAA tournament
Who: Texas Tech Raiders vs. NC State Wolfpack
When: Thursday, March 21, 2024
Where: PPG Paints Arena
Time: 9:40 p.m.
TV: CBS
Channel finder: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish, Hulu, fuboTV, Sling
Live stream: fuboTV (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial), SlingTV (50% off your first month)
***
The host sites for the tournament are:
First Four (March 19 and 20)
– University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
First/second round (March 21 and 23):
– Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.
– CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb.
– PPG Paints Arena in in Pittsburgh, Penn.
– Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah
First/Second round (March 22 and 24):
– Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
– Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
– Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash.
– FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn.
Regional semi-finals (March 28 and 29) and finals (March 30 and 31):
East regional
– TD Garden in Boston, Mass.
West regional
– Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif.
South regional
– American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas
Midwest regional
– Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Mich.
National semi-finals and championship (April 6 and 8)
– State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
Here’s a recent AP college basketball story:
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the shot clock running out, DJ Burns Jr. found himself much farther from the basket than a 6-foot-9, 275-pound big man should be. He stepped back and made the first 3-pointer in his 160th college game.
“Crazy,” he said. “I’ll take it.”
More often than that, Burns is bruising inside and did plenty of that in getting North Carolina State in the NCAA Tournament by beating fourth-ranked North Carolina on Saturday night for an unexpected automatic bid. After helping the Wolfpack win the program’s first ACC Tournament since 1987 — 13 years before he was born — Burns’ next trick will be with the nation watching during March Madness.
The Wolfpack are the 11th seed and will face No. 6 seed Texas Tech in the South Region on Thursday.
“Obviously a great talent all year in the ACC, and he’s been getting it done and going to work,” teammate Michael O’Connell said. “For teams that haven’t played him yet and aren’t used to how he plays and his playing style, I think he can do a lot of damage as long as he just lets the game come to him.”
That’s what Burns did against UNC, putting up 20 points and matching a career best with seven assists. He repeatedly backed down Tar Heels fifth-year senior Armando Bacot inside and scoring.
“I just allowed him to catch the ball where he really wanted to,” Bacot said. “When he gets it at that point, it’s really tough to guard him.”
NC State forward Ben Middlebrooks went a step further, saying of Burns, “When he gets going, there’s no one in the country who can stop him.”
Burns, who’s 23, in his fifth college season and second at NC State, had only attempted 10 3-pointers before, counting his three years at Winthrop. He has made a few in practice and warmups, so it didn’t come as a total shocker to those around him.
“To really step up and knock that down in the ACC championship, that’s a big shot for him,” said O’Connell, who banked in a tying 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime in the semifinals against Virginia. “He has all the confidence in the world, so I’m not surprised he made it.”
After watching the 3-pointer go in, Casey Morsell started thinking, “We’re destined.”
But Burns did far more than make that one shot, going 9 for 12 from the floor. Forward Mohamed Diarra told Burns before the final Saturday that all he had to do to be the best player on the court was to show up and have a big game.
“He did,” Diarra said. “He responded.”
Burns, who shimmied back down the court after his 3 and flexed toward the crowd from the bench in the final minutes, got through 28 minutes in NC State’s fifth game in as many days as the Wolfpack became the second double-digit seed to win any conference tournament.
Asked about shouldering the weight of NC State’s fan base for winning the program’s first ACC Tournament title in 37 years, Burns kept smiling and responded, “I’d say that’s what I’m big for.”
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription
