NC State arguably played its best half of basketball in the opening 20 minutes in the Carrier Dome Sunday.

The Wolfpack (7-6, 3-5 ACC) led Syracuse (10-5, 4-4 ACC) 47-38 at halftime after shooting 56.7 percent from the field and 40 percent from three in the first half.

The shots stopped falling for the Pack, however. Despite shooting just 32.3 percent from the field and going 0-for-8 from behind the arc in the second half, NC State had multiple opportunities to retake possession down just one score in the final minute.

Once again in ACC play, the Wolfpack came up a couple of stops short and fell to the Orange 76-73.

“I think we missed shots,” NC State head coach Kevin Keatts said. “When you play against Syracuse's zone, you're either going to make them or you're not. We got some of the same looks, I just thought we didn't make those shots. Every shot that we took, I'm glad that my guys took it. I don't think it was anything that they did… I know we had some turnovers that we normally wouldn't have, but the shots just didn't go down.”

For the fourth time this season, the Pack lost a game it led for most of the contest.

NC State led for 21:59 Sunday evening in a competitive matchup that had 19 lead changes and seven ties.

The final lead change occurred when Syracuse guard Kadary Richmond, who had 14 points in 16 minutes, sank a jumper with 5:05 remaining, giving the Orange a two-point lead. The Wolfpack cut the deficit to one point twice down the stretch but was never able to reclaim a lead.

Sunday marked the first time this season Syracuse was able to win despite being outrebounded by its opponent.

NC State outrebounded the Orange 37-35, marking just the fourth time it has won the rebounding battle in conference play. The Pack also reeled in 13 offensive rebounds compared to just 11 from Syracuse and outscored the Orange 13-8 on second-chance opportunities.

“It's unfortunate that we came out on the short end because I thought our guys played their butts off,” Keatts said. “With our circumstances, I don't think anybody outside of our locker room would have predicted that this was going to be a really good game to the stretch. But our guys believed, and those guys are going to get better.”

In the absence of NC State’s top two leading scorers, fifth-year senior guard Devon Daniels (16.5 ppg) and fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk (11.9 ppg), junior forward Jericole Hellems and redshirt sophomore Manny Bates delivered career performances.

Hellems led the Pack in scoring with 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting, marking a new career-high for the 6-7, 205-pounder. He also reeled in nine rebounds and tied for a team-high with four assists while generating the bulk of NC State’s offense Sunday playing from the foul-line to infiltrate the Syracuse zone.

“Jericole did a good job in the middle of it, facilitating, making some plays,” Keatts said. “We were able to get the ball into the middle of the zone. What happens, when you play Syracuse, you have to have a great guy who's a playmaker in the middle. I thought Jericole Hellems did a great job of hitting Manny, he found some guys in the corner for some shots.”

Bates finished the night with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and a career-high 14 rebounds, four of which on the offensive glass. The performance marked his first double-double of the season and the second of his career.

He also added four blocks, one assist and one steal with no turnovers.

“He was great,” Keatts said. “One of the things that we've talked about with Manny is I want him to be able to rebound the basketball. I've been dying for one of these games where he has over 10, 11 or 12 rebounds. I know we're going to look at the stat sheet and say, 'He's 7-for-9 for 17 points.' I've seen that, and I know that he can do that. The next step in his development is to be an outstanding rebounder. I thought he took a big step today.

“I've bragged the entire time about this young man getting better, and he is getting better. When you look at the numbers that he posted in 17 points and 14 rebounds, I thought he played well. I'm excited just to see his transformation and how he continues to grow.”

Morale around the program was already low entering Sunday’s contest against the Orange considering Daniels, who was the team’s leader in points, assists and steals, suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the win over Wake Forest Wednesday.

The Wolfpack took another gut punch just before tipoff.

Adding insult to injury, Funderburk, the team’s second-leading scorer this season, was announced to be unavailable due to “university policies” just one hour before the game.

“I found out once we left,” Keatts said of when he knew the veteran big wasn’t going to suit up. “That's all I'm going to comment about it.”

Sunday was the fourth game this season that the 6-10, 225-pounder was unavailable for the Pack. He missed three games in the month of December after the program had to take its first COVID-related pause of the 2020-21 campaign that resulted in a two-week gameless stretch.

NC State has gone 2-2 without Funderburk, including two road losses in which the Wolfpack led by six or more points at halftime.

Funderburk’s status for the Pack’s upcoming game against No. 8 Virginia this Wednesday at 9 p.m. in PNC Arena is still unknown.

“There is no timeline,” Keatts said. “We're going to get back to school and deal with a couple of situations. That's all I can say about it.”

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