Quick hits and notes from NC State’s 73-58 win over Syracuse in front of 16,335 fans at PNC Arena in Raleigh Wednesday evening.
Play of the game
NC State made sure this was not going to be another close game when it went on a 12-0 run to turn a 37-34 lead to a 49-34 advantage with 14:34 left. The shot that truly sparked the run was a long, which is mildly putting it, three-pointer from sophomore guard Braxton Beverly.
Beverly’s bomb was probably closer to the edge of the Wolf head logo at center court than it was to the three-point line, and it gave NC State a 43-34 lead with 16:32 to go.
Highlight of the game
When redshirt junior center Wyatt Walker transferred to NC State from Samford, his scouting report included that Walker was a good passer. Wolfpack fans had seen glimpses of that since he’s been in Raleigh, but the best example came Wednesday.
Walker grabbed an air ball that was short of the rim from junior guard Tyus Battle of Syracuse, and he ripped off a baseball pass from inside the charge/block circle underneath the basket to a few feet beyond the three-point line on the other end of the court where junior guard Markell Johnson caught it in stride for a one-handed fast break dunk.
That gave NC State an 18-13 lead with 7:57 to go in the first half.
Player of the game
NC State is simply a much better team when Beverly is making three-pointers, and he has been on a roll the past three games, ever since his disastrous performance against Virginia Tech.
Beverly shot 4 of 8 on threes and made all nine of his free throw attempts to tie his career high of 21 points, which also tied for game-high Wednesday night. Since going 0 for 12 against the Hokies, including 0 of 9 on three-pointers, Beverly has made 15 of 28 shots from the field and 13 of 22 treys. He is averaging 18.3 points per contest over that three-game stretch.
Finally an easy ACC win
Syracuse led only once in the game — 11-10. NC State scored the next four points and never trailed after that. It built a 28-16 lead in the first half after a three-point play from redshirt sophomore guard Devon Daniels, and then went on a cold spell and did not make a shot the rest of the way, allowing the Orange to close the gap to 30-27 at the break.
Otherwise, NC State thoroughly dominated the final 30 minutes of the contest. With 2:20 to go it had built a 21-point lead at 73-52 before the Orange closed with the final six points.
In NC State’s previous five ACC wins, the margin of victory had been five, six, four, two and three points, or an average of 4.0 points.
Strong defensive effort
To be fair, Syracuse was off on this night. It made just 11 of 22 free throws. The Orange is not a strong free throw shooting team — just 68.1 percent and barely ahead of Duke for next-to-last in the ACC — but it still tied for Syracuse’s second lowest free throw percentage of the year.
And for NC State fans, it represented the first time the Pack outscored an opponent at the line. The Pack went 20 of 24 on its free throws.
That said, NC State’s defense held the Orange to just 21-of-60 shooting or 35.0 percent, from the field and 5 of 25 on threes, or 20.0 percent. That is Syracuse’s third worst shooting performance overall on the season and second lowest in an ACC game. It is also just the third time this year Syracuse scored less than 60 points in a game and it was two points off its prior season-low.
For NC State, the 35.0-percent shooting allowed was the lowest for a Wolfpack opponent in conference play. Thus far NC State’s defense has only allowed one team (UNC on the road) to shoot better than 50.0 percent against them.
Battle, who was averaging 17.9 points per game and had reached double digits in all but three of Syracuse’s previous 21 games, was held to just seven points on 3-of-9 shooting. Sophomore forward Oshae Brissett finished with just two points, a season-low and way off his average of 13.6 per game.
Important win
This game was big. That was made clear to anyone on social media following those who cover NC State. The Pack entered Wednesday dangerously close to the NCAA Tournament bubble if it was not already on it, and although it has a potential soft schedule ahead of it, it also was running out of opportunities to score quality wins.
NC State still had road games at Duke and Florida State but will likely be underdogs in both, probably heavily so Saturday in Durham against the Devils. Thus Syracuse may have represented its best chance to pick up a top-50 NET win in the new rankings formulated by the NCAA.
Lost in that discussion is that this was important for Syracuse as well, which will have to battle to stay in the top 50. While it has arguably the best win on any team sheet with its victory at short-handed Duke, it has also played perhaps the softest conference schedule in the league to this point. Five of its last six games include home dates against Louisville, Duke and Virginia and road contests at UNC and Clemson.
NC State is now 6-6 in the league and stands alone in eighth place in the conference after Clemson lost its second buzzer beater of the year, this time at Miami. The top nine seeds earn a bye in the ACC Tournament with the top four receiving double byes.
Spotted at the game
Former NC State punter A.J. Cole scored some premium seats for the contest, sitting front row. Also at the game was former NC State basketball player Chucky Brown. Two recruits, sophomore guards Breon Pass from Reidsville (N.C.) High and Carter Whitt from Raleigh Leesville Road High, were both there. Both have claimed offers from NC State.
Scoring between official timeouts
This year we have kept track of the scoring between each official timeout to help give an idea of the game flow:
First half
20:00-13:47: NC State 8, Syracuse 5
13:47-11:55: Syracuse 6, NC State 2
11:55-7:17: NC State 8, Syracuse 2
7:17-3:54: NC State 10, Syracuse 5
3:54-Halftime: Syracuse 9, NC State 2
Second half
20:00-15:50: NC State 15, Syracuse 7
15:50-10:56: NC State 8, Syracuse 7
10:56-7:50: NC State 8, Syracuse 2
7:50-3:46: Syracuse 9, NC State 8
3:46-Final: Syracuse 6, NC State 4
Game scores
Using Hollinger’s measure of productivity, players are graded 1-40 with 10 being average.
Beverly: 19.0
Fifth-year senior forward Torin Dorn: 12.4
Walker: 9.6
Redshirt sophomore wing Devon Daniels: 8.7
Redshirt sophomore center DJ Funderburk: 7.2
Johnson: 1.8
Redshirt junior wing C.J. Bryce: 0.9
Freshman forward Jericole Hellems: -0.5
Plus/minus
Here is the plus/minus for each player (the difference between points scored while they were on the floor) on NCSU. Notably, the five starters were all in the negatives.
• Bryce +19 (18 minutes played)
• Johnson +17 (32)
• Dorn +16 (34)
• Beverly +13 (38)
• Walker +13 (23)
• Funderburk +2 (18)
• Daniels +1 (26)
• Hellems -6 (11)
What the win means
The Pack is 18-7 overall on the season and 6-6 in the ACC. Syracuse is 17-8 and 8-4. The Orange leads the all-time series 7-5, and it loses for the first time in four games at PNC Arena.
NC State improves to 13-3 at home and 9-6 in night games (tips after 6 p.m.). It is 8-6 on weeknight contests and improves to 17-1 when leading at halftime. This is NC State’s first ACC winning streak.
The game was broadcast on Raycom, the final time in the regular season. During the season, we’ll keep track of how NC State does on the various networks.
- ACC Network Extra: 6-0
- RSN: 3-0
- ESPNU: 2-0
- Raycom: 5-4
- ESPN2: 2-2
- ESPN: 0-1
We will also track NC State’s records by month:
- November: 6-1
- December: 6-0
- January: 4-4
- February: 2-2
- March: 0-0
Other stats of note
• NC State won the points in the paint, 28-16.
• The Pack had a decisive 15-7 win in fast-break points.
• Defensively, NC State had four blocks and 10 steals. Syracuse also had 10 steals and three rejections.
• NC State’s overall rebound advantage was 42-31, but the Orange had a 11-7 edge in offensive rebounds. NC State still had a slight 10-7 advantage in second chance points.
• NC State’s bench outscored the Orange’s reserves 21-20.
• NC State led for 34:36, Syracuse for 1:55 and the game was tied for 3:29. NC State’s largest lead was 21 points, and the Orange’s biggest margin was one.
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