State practically invented the hack a Shaq concept, and it came in handy against teams they faced in that run like UH and UNLV who had teams with insane athleticism but who were notorious for being horrendous from the line.
They should have trained FT during the All Star break. :)
Actually somewhat related, you may very well remember the 1994 tournament. NC was a #1 seed and got knocked out early by BC, who ended up losing to Florida in the regional finals, giving the Gators their first Final Four appearance. That game only happened because with a few seconds left in the Sweet 16 game, Donyell Marshall of UConn missed two FTs, sending the game to OT where Florida pulled away.
That Florida coach was Lon Kruger, who was in the final four this season with his eleventy-gajillionth team.
1994 is a bitter memory, year after the title run of 1993, and we thought going into the season this team could be even BETTER, Stackhouse and Wallace were freshmen. Depth like you could not believe, and they seemed to be coming into form, beat Dook in Durham, won the ACC tourney, then laid a big old turd against BC, broke the string of 14 straight appearances in the sweet 16.