Here are some the thoughts from those who covered NC State Wolfpack basketball's 76-73 loss at Syracuse on Sunday evening.
• Matt Carter, TheWolfpacker.com — Quick hits from NC State's loss at Syracuse
The big news before the game was that fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk would not be available for what was termed a university policy. Head coach Kevin Keatts said he learned of the news upon leaving for Syracuse and has no timetable on a potential return to the court.
Of course, the Pack already knew it would be playing without fifth-year senior guard Devon Daniels, who tore his ACL in a win over Wake Forest earlier in the week. Daniels was NC State's leading scorer and all-conference contender, while Funderburk is its second-leading scorer.
How did the minutes play out in their absence?
The notable difference is that redshirt freshman wing Dereon Seabronreceived more time, logging 17 minutes off the bench. Only once, when he played 22 minutes in a home win over Campbell, has Seabron had more playing time in a game this year.
In fact, only once in the past five games had Seabron even received double digits in minutes, and in the loss at UNC on Jan. 23, he did not even get off the bench.
Seabron responded with a career-high nine points, making 4 of 8 shots from the field and 1 of 3 three-pointers. He also added two rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot without turning it over before fouling out with 4.9 seconds left.
N.C. State knew there would be an adjustment playing in its first game without leading scorer Devon Daniels at Syracuse.
What the Wolfpack didn’t know was that the adjustment would be having to play the Orange without its top two leading scorers, and it is unknown how long that will be the case.
NCSU coach Kevin Keatts didn’t learn that senior forward D.J. Funderburk would be unavailable to play Syracuse until the team left Raleigh on Saturday. Despite the odds, the Pack (7-6, 3-5 ACC) showed a lot of fight before falling 76-73 in the Carrier Dome.
“When you look at the fight that this team has and the adversity that we’ve had to go through just in the last four or five days,” Keatts said. “And to come out and put us in a position to win on the road in the ACC — I’m proud of our guys.”
Daniels led the team with 16.5 points per game but is out for the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in Wednesday’s win against Wake Forest.
The school announced publicly about an hour before tipoff that Funderburk, who made the trip to New York, would miss the game due to university policy. Keatts said he wasn’t sure if Funderburk would be able to play when they return home to face Virginia on Wednesday.
“I don’t know the answer to that, there is no timeline,” Keatts said in his postgame video conference. “We’re gonna get back to school and deal with a couple of situations. That’s all I can say about.”
N.C. State has had COVID-19 issues. The Wolfpack has had injuries to Manny Bates and Braxton Beverly. It has been a season of adversity, of unpredictability.
Now there is more.
Having lost four consecutive ACC games, the Pack badly needed a victory Wednesday against Wake Forest at PNC Arena. The Pack got the win 72-67, but had senior Devon Daniels leave the game with a leg injury.
Moments after pushing his point total to 20 for the game, Daniels had to be helped to the locker room. He made a twisting drive into the lane and lost the ball as he fell to the court, grabbing his left leg. He was not able to put any weight on his leg as he left the court with 9:03 left in the second half.
NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said after the game that he had not received an update on the injury. Keatts said it was a “shock” to see Daniels go down but liked the way his team regained its composure and finished out the game.
“I’ve learned in this league that wins are golden,” Keatts said. “We’re going to pray for Devon and hope everything is OK. We’re going to enjoy, as much as we can, our win and we’re going to try and build on it.”
N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said Wednesday night it might take 24 to 48 hours before he would know the severity of Devon Daniels’ injury.
Talk about a tense 24 to 48 hours for the Wolfpack.
The sight of Daniels down on the court at PNC Arena on Wednesday, grabbing his left leg, was a collective jolt to the system for the Wolfpack. The senior, who had scored 20 points against Wake Forest, who had been the best player on the floor, was looking for more, making a driving move into the lane against the Deacons’ Jalen Johnson.
Down Daniels went. The ball bounced out of bounds. The question now is where the Pack’s season will go should the injury be serious and N.C. State be without its leading scorer.
The bar has been raised for Manny Bates.
With Devon Daniels and DJ Funderburk out of the lineup for NC State ahead of its game against Syracuse on Sunday, Bates knew he would need to step up for the shorthanded Wolfpack.
Despite a 76-73 loss to the Orange, who used a 12-point advantage in the second half to complete the comeback victory at the Carrier Dome, the Fayetteville native put together a big-time performance with 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for the Wolfpack.
“There really was no pressure,” said Bates, who recorded the second double-double of his career.
“I just try to take every game with the same approach. I know what Coach (Kevin Keatts) needs me to do.”
The scoring wasn’t much of a surprise for Keatts.
“I’ve seen that. I know that he can do that,” the coach said of Bates, who had five dunks and a pair of layups to go with three free throws against the Orange.
“The next step of his development is to be an outstanding rebounder and I thought he took a big step (against Syracuse). That’s a career high and I’ve bragged the whole time about this young man getting better — and he is getting better.”
Bates delivered the most rebounds for an NC State player since Torin Dorn pulled down 17 boards against UKMC in 2017.
• Ben Ellis, Technician — Shorthanded NC State men’s basketball fights, but falls short at Syracuse
Despite playing without its two leading scorers, the NC State men’s basketball team hung tight with the Syracuse Orange but fell just short, losing 76-73 for its fifth loss in the last six games.
The Wolfpack (7-6, 3-5 ACC) lost redshirt senior guard and leading scorer Devon Daniels for the season earlier this week when he suffered a torn ACL and was also without redshirt senior forward D.J. Funderburk due to “university policies.” However, the team shot a red-hot 56.7% from the field in the first half for 47 points and got some strong individual performances from
junior forward Jericole Hellems, who had a career-high 24 points, and redshirt sophomore forward Manny Bates, who had a 17-point, 14-rebound double-double.
“Disappointed that we lost, but I’m proud of these guys,” said head coach Kevin Keatts. “When you look at the fight that this team has and the adversity that we’ve had to go through just in the last 4-5 days, and to come out and put ourselves in a position to win on the road in the ACC, I’m proud of our guys.”
• Joe Giglio, WRALSportsFan.com — NC State drops road loss to Syracuse
Keatts said his team goes from old with Daniels and Funderburk to young without them.
"They've got to grow up and they've got to grow up pretty fast and I thought Test 1 was pretty good for us," Keatts said.
Keatts said he found out about Funderburk's issues on Saturday after the team had left for the game. He said there "is no timeline" for Funderburk's return. Funderburk, who is second on the team in scoring (11.9 ppg) made the trip to Syracuse and had a court-side seat for standout efforts by Bates (17 points, career-high 14 rebounds) and Hellems (career-high 24 points, 10 rebounds).
"We’re going to get back to school and deal with a couple of situations," Keatts said.
But Syracuse (10-5, 4-4 ACC) had just a little more. Griffin, Buddy Boeheim (17 points) and Quincy Guerrier (10 points, 10 rebounds) helped the Orange overcome a poor first half.
The game couldn’t have started any better for the Wolfpack, even without its top two scorers.
Hellems and Bates had their way with Syracuse’s zone. Hellems, at the foul line in the middle of the zone, was able to operate and set up either shooters at the 3-point line or Bates at the rim for easy dunks.
"I think we had a great first half but we have to be able to finish games," Hellems said.
• Mike Waters, Syracuse.com — Syracuse rallies for 76-73 win over short-handed NC State
Syracuse freshman Kadary Richmond played a huge role off the bench. Richmond took advantage of his size advantage over NC State’s smaller guards and finished with 14 points on 6-for-7 field goal shooting.
His nifty left-handed finish as he evaded the ACC’s leading shot-blocker Manny Bates with a minute left gave the Orange a 72-69 lead.
Marek Dolezaj went to the free-throw line with 17.7 seconds left and SU holding onto a 72-70 lead.
Syracuse provided NC State with an opportunity as Quincy Guerrier fouled Thomas Allen on a 3-pointer with 6.1 seconds left. Allen made all three free throws to close the gap to 74-73.
On the ensuing inbounds, Dolezaj got the ball to Alan Griffin, who calmly sank a pair of free throws for the final margin. Griffin finished with a team-high 19 points.
Dolezaj wound up with 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals.
Syracuse’s record improved to 10-5 overall and 4-4 in the ACC. North Carolina State fell to 7-6 for the season and 3-5 in the conference.
• Donna Ditota, Syracuse.com — Syracuse clamps down on defense in 2nd half to beat NC State
Early Sunday, the Orange sent its wings past the 3-point arc to defend against the State 3-point threat. The Wolfpack ranks fifth in the conference in 3-point shooting, so it was solid strategy. But the Wolfpack simply got the ball into the middle, mostly to Jericole Hellems, who found Manny Bates or somebody else on the low block for a dunk. Both of those guys were terrific on Sunday.
When that didn’t work, the Wolfpack delivered the ball to the wide-open corners, where NC State shooters took advantage of all that shooting space. State shot 6-of-15 from deep. There was one play when Thomas Allen was open for a 3 on the wing and Buddy Boeheim just sort of waved at him. Allen is a 44 percent 3-point shooter. The ball went down.
NC State shot 17-of-30 overall in that first half. They scored 47 points. To say that SU was scrambling on the defensive end would be to put it kindly. The energy it took for the SU forwards to cover such large pieces of defensive real estate was exhausting.
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