All things considered, NC State was in good shape at halftime down just five to a Syracuse team that led by as much as 12 in the opening 20 minutes.

But the Wolfpack (13-10, 9-8 ACC) had no answers for the Orange (16-8, 9-7 ACC) in the second half, falling to Cuse 89-68 in the second round of the 2021 ACC Tournament.

The Orangemen jumped out to a 16-3 run in the first 4:25 out of the half, opening up an 18-point lead with 15:35 remaining.

From that point on, NC State was only able to shrink the deficit to 14 points and could never get enough momentum to make a dent due to Syracuse’s hot shooting.

The Orange shot 56.7 percent from the field and 48.3 percent from three, including a 53.3 percent mark from the perimeter in the second half.

“Second half, I thought we came out of the locker room with a lot of energy, but we had two bad turnovers at the beginning of the second half and never really -- we kind of played catch-up from that point,” Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts said. “We never really got a flow of the game. At the first media of the second half, they had scored 14 points and we had scored three, and that's not a good formula.

"Give them credit. These guys made shots. They were a good team. They would have beat a lot of people today, and unfortunately, we were the team that they had to play against."

The Orange shot 56.7 percent from the field and 48.3 percent from three, including a 53.3 mark from the perimeter in the second half.

Syracuse forward Buddy Boeheim, the son of head coach Jim Boeheim, was the key ingredient to the Orangemen’s success from the perimeter.

The 6-6 junior led all scorers with 27 points and went 6-of-12 from beyond the arc, which didn’t even paint an accurate picture of his accuracy Wednesday afternoon considering he missed three rub-it-in attempts in the final four minutes.

Boeheim had 20 points at halftime after going 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.

“We talked about defending Buddy Boeheim,” Keatts said. “He was really, really good. He did a tremendous job, especially in the first half, and I thought that was the difference and the reason why they had a lead, even by five.

“We surely had some breakdowns, but they made some tough shots. I mean, two or three of them were when the shot clock went down. Buddy Boeheim was just raising up and making shots. Give that kid credit.”

NC State was able to match Syracuse’s accuracy from three for most of the contest, finishing with a collective 41.2 percent mark from deep.

But as hot as the Orange was from beyond the arc, the Pack was equally cold around the rim.

The Wolfpack went 14-of-41 (34.1 percent) on two-point attempts for the game.

“We didn't hit shots,” Fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk said. “We were flustered by their defense, and the turnovers carried over to us thinking about it later on in the game in different possessions. I feel like that factored in too.”

Funderburk, who finished with a team-high 14 points, was held to just one point in the first half after going 0-of-2 from the field.

Redshirt sophomore center Manny Bates was the Pack’s second-highest scorer, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting.

Junior forward Jericole Hellems, who had scored in double figures in 12 of his last 13 games entering the tournament, added just seven points on 3-of-11 shooting. He also produced four of NC State’s 12 turnovers for the game.

“We just had some guys that didn't play well,” Keatts said. “When you're playing seven guys, we've got to have at least four guys that play really good basketball to put us in a great situation to win. I'm sure when you look at the stat sheet, you're going to be like, ‘He didn't play well or he didn't play well, and this guy played well.’

"I thought we played hard, but we didn't always play smart.”

The Wolfpack was able to outrebound the Orange 16-11 on the offensive glass, resulting in a 14-8 difference in second-chance points, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap of Syracuse’s offensive firepower.

Despite the deficit on the offensive glass, the Orangemen outscored the Pack 32-24 in points in the paint.

NC State had an incredibly small margin for error in Greensboro if it hoped to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

While the Pack’s late-season turnaround may not be enough to get its name called on Selection Sunday, the Wolfpack will be in the running for an invitation to the NIT.

In the wake of an emotional loss, Keatts wasn’t ready to commit one way or the other if NC State would accept to any postseason invitation other than the NCAA Tournament.

"That would be something we would talk about,” Keatts said. “I have no idea how that even works these days. I have no idea if it's an invitational tournament. I don't know how it works.

"I do know that there are going to be 16 teams. I will tell you this. Whatever we decide to do will be in the best interest of our team moving forward, safety protocols, what it looks like, is it an invite-only tournament. I just don't know how it works at this point.”

As for Funderburk and senior guard Braxton Beverly, Wednesday could end up being their last games in an NC State uniform if the Pack doesn’t go on to compete in a postseason tournament.

Due to the NCAA’s ruling that winter athletes will get an additional year of eligibility if they chose, both will have the option to return next season.

While the the senior duo was aware of the option, neither was ready to make a decision after the early exit from the conference tournament.

“I'm not sure yet,” Beverly said. “I'm going to talk to the coaching staff. I know it's been floating around throughout the year, and it's definitely something I've considered, but I don't really know. I haven't really thought about it too much. I wanted to put that on after-season thoughts, so we'll see what happens.”

Both Beverly and Funderburk were reflective of their time at NC State while processing the emotions of the loss.

“It's meant a lot,” Funderburk said. “They've been there for me when I was in the wrong, when I was down, my highs and my lows. It definitely meant a lot to me, off the court more so than on the court.

“I'll cherish it and will make my decision later on after the season.”

“I've got a lot of emotions going on right now,” Beverly added. “It's like a mixture of a dream come true but also like heartache. Of course I couldn't be any more thankful that I've gotten to play in the ACC Tournament for four years. Anybody in this program will tell you that I'm a competitor and I want to win first and foremost. So it was hard.

“It kind of started to sink in, probably the last minute of the game when I was on the court is when it really started to hit.”

——

• Talk about it inside The State of Basketball

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook