MILWAUKEE — The Marquette Golden Eagles had media responsibilities on Thursday in Dallas ahead of their NCAA tournament Sweet 16 game against North Carolina State.

"I think our preparation has been huge,” said Marquette guard Stevie Mitchell. “Just talking about this specific moment for the entire season, even right after last season, just talking about being here. When we run into situations where Western Kentucky goes up by seven at half, or Colorado makes a run, it's just like, 'Okay, we've been talking about these moments. We've been in these moments before. We just got to lock in, focus on ourselves, focus our control.'"

Focusing is key for the team. 

"Just stay connected, just focus on each other,” added Marquette guard Chase Ross. “I'm not worried about anything else that's going on around us. Obviously, play defense."

Marquette coach Shaka Smart isn't worried about other "storylines" eaither. He came to Milwaukee from Texas, but he said in his mind, that's not a huge deal. 

"Try to learn from the Stoics,” said Smart. “Just control what we can control. There’s certain things that happen in basketball. It's very, very easy as a player or a coach to feel like, 'How is this happening to us? How’s this happening to me?' But the reality is, if you watch enough basketball, you're around it. Things happen."

Fifty years ago, North Carolina State beat Marquette in the 1974 NCAA Championship.

David Thompson may not be walking through that door, but 300 pounder DJ Burns Jr. is.

"It's been kind of crazy," said  North Carolina State's Burns. "Going from having almost zero media attention to a camera following you around all day. It's kind of been cool. But, I definitely noticed."

Whether the media has been following the team closely or not, their coach has always believed in them. 

"We were 11 seed and if you watch us, we don't play like that," said North Carolina State coach Kevin Keatts. "Our guys believe. We don't look at numbers. We just believe that we earned the right to be here."

Marquette hopes to end  North Carolina State's run Friday night.