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Quick hits from NC State's win at Syracuse

Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball’s much-needed 79-74 win at Syracuse in the Carrier Dome on Tuesday evening.

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Play Of The Game

The Orange had built a 68-62 lead with 6:16 left in the game. That’s when redshirt junior guard Devon Daniels went to work. He made a floater in a lane, and then Daniels banked in a three-pointer to cut Syracuse’s lead to one.

Daniels finished his own personal 7-0 run by making a fast-break layup to put NC State up for good at 69-68, leading to a Syracuse timeout with 4:16 remaining.

NC State was able to come out of that Orange timeout by extending the run Daniels started to 15-1 and taking a 77-70 lead with 2:32 left before another Orange timeout was called.

Highlight Of The Game

It belongs to this SportsCenter-worthy bounce-pass from senior guard Markell Johnson.


Player Of The Game

If Daniels had made some of his late free throws, he would have set a career high. As it was, three misses in the final 36.7 seconds left him at 23 points, matching his personal best at NC State and one off his tally he set during his freshman season for Utah at Washington.

Daniels, who logged 38 minutes Tuesday, went 8 of 15 from the field and 2 of 6 on three-pointers. He also shone on defense with three steals and two blocked shots.

Shooting Over The Zone

After a series of dismal shooting performances, it was NC State who had a decisive edge from behind the arc. Shooting over the top of Syracuse’s vaunted 2-3 zone defense, the Pack made 11 of 25 three-point attempts compared to Syracuse’s 3 of 18.

NC State is coming out of a recent tough stretch offensively in which the Pack struggled shooting in six out of seven games. The Wolfpack made just 30 of 123 three-pointers, or 24.3 percent, in those six contests combined. The lone exception during that stretch was when it made 9 of 20 threes in a home win over Miami.

It was against those same Hurricanes last week that NC State broke out of its slump by making 9 of 22 three-pointers prior to playing at Syracuse. NC State’s outscoring of the Orange by 24 points on threes is easily its most lopsided advantage of the season.

The Pack may have caught Syracuse on a good night. Leading scorer Elijah Hughes, a redshirt junior forward, tried to play with a lower body injury but only lasted three minutes before he was removed from the game and did not return. Hughes is a 35.9-percent three-point shooter.

Sophomore guard Buddy Boeheim, a 40.0-percent shooter from beyond the arc, was just 2 of 8. Freshman guard Joseph Girard III made 8 of 12 shots inside the arc and 11 of 12 free throws en route to a career-high 30 points, but he also made only 1 of 10 threes.

Overcoming Foul Trouble

Much like its road win at Virginia earlier in the season, NC State had to overcome adversity to pull out what is, for the time being, a quad one victory.

NC State head coach Kevin Keatts switched to a small lineup with sophomore forward Jericole Hellems as the tallest player on the floor after redshirt junior D.J. Funderburk and redshirt freshman Manny Bates both picked up four fouls.

Funderburk was called for his fourth with 17:48 to go in the game, while Bates went to the bench with 9:15 left. This came after a first half that saw junior Braxton Beverly limited in minutes because of two quick fouls.

Beverly received the start Tuesday over Johnson because the latter had been late for a practice. Johnson responded with eight points, eight assists and four steals.

An Important Win

It goes without saying this was a huge win for several reasons, chiefly the Pack now has a third quad one victory, all of which have come on the road (at Virginia and at UNC Greensboro) a fact that might catch the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s attention a little more.

In terms of the ACC race for fourth place behind the three frontrunners Louisville, Duke and Florida State, the Pack has landed valuable wins over Virginia, Notre Dame and Syracuse that could prove valuable in tiebreakers for seeding plus any comparisons to fellow ACC bubble teams.

Spotted At The Game

NC State senior forward Pat Andree played after there were questions about his availability as he continues to battle an ankle injury. Andree made 1 of 2 threes off the bench in two first-half minutes.

Hellems also returned after missing the Miami win with a shoulder injury.

Scoring Between Official Timeouts

Here we keep track of the scoring between each official timeout to help give an idea of the game flow:

First half

20:00-15:57: Syracuse 6, NC State 4

15:57-11:34: NC State 8, Syracuse 3

11:34-7:22: Syracuse 12, NC State 11

7:22-3:39: Syracuse 7, NC State 6

3:39-Halftime: NC State 10, Syracuse 7

Second half

20:00-15:38: Syracuse 11, NC State 9

15:38-9:15: Syracuse 14, NC State 11

9:15-7:48: Syracuse 4, NC State 0

7:48-4:16: NC State 10, Syracuse 4

4:16-Final: NC State 10, Syracuse 6

What The Win Means

NC State is 16-8 overall and 7-6 in the ACC, and Syracuse is 14-10 and also 7-6. The Orange lead the all-time series 7-6, but NC State is 5-3 against them since Syracuse joined the ACC. The Pack under head coach Kevin Keatts is 3-0 against SU.

The Pack is 5-5 away from home this year, including 5-4 in true road games. NC State is 9-3 in night games (played after 6 p.m.), 8-4 in weekday games and 14-2 when winning at halftime.

The game was broadcast on ESPN2. During the season, we’ll keep track of how NC State does on the various networks.

- ACC Network Extra: 3-0

- ESPN+: 1-0

- RSN: 4-2

- ACC Network: 4-2

- ESPN2: 3-2

- ESPN: 1-2

We will also track NC State’s records by month:

- November: 5-2

- December: 5-1

- January: 4-4

- February: 2-1

Other Stats Of Note

• Syracuse won the battle in the paint, 40-26.

• The Pack had the edge in fast-break points, 21-13.

• NC State’s bench edged Syracuse’s reserves, 21-19.

• The Orange had the edge in turnover margin, 19-15, but more importantly NC State had a more decisive advantage in points off turnovers, 23-12. The 19 Pack turnovers were a season-high for NC State.

• Syracuse won the battle on the boards, 37-32 overall and 14-5 on the offensive glass. Yet the Orange only had an 11-10 advantage in second-chance points.

• Defensively, NC State had six blocks and nabbed seven steals. The Orange had two blocks and 11 steals.

• NC State’s largest lead was nine points, while Syracuse’s was six. NC State led for 21:24 compared to 16:22 for Syracuse. The game was tied for 2:14.

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