NC State Rolls Past Syracuse to Advance to Quarterfinals

WASHINGTON- Jayden Taylor had 18 points and nine rebounds, and North Carolina State rolled to an 83-65 victory over Syracuse on Wednesday night in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Tenth-seeded N.C. State (19-14), which avenged a regular-season sweep by Syracuse, will face No. 2 seed Duke (24-7) in a Thursday quarterfinal.

Syracuse opened the second half on a 7-2 spurt for a 39-37 advantage. NC State answered with a 21-4 run for a 58-43 lead with 12:33 remaining. DJ Horne scored 11 points during the stretch and capped it with a dunk. Taylor made a pair of 3-pointers. The Orange pulled within 60-50 but didn’t get closer.

The Wolfpack scored 30 points stemming from 19 Syracuse turnovers.

Horne, NC State’s leading scorer, scored all 16 of his points in the second half. The 6-foot-1 senior injured his hip in the regular-season finale at Pittsburgh and did not play in the Wolfpack’s 94-85 win over Louisville in the tournament’s first round.

Michael O’Connell added 16 points and DJ Burns Jr. scored 15 for the Wolfpack. Mohamed Diarra chipped in with eight points to go with 14 rebounds and six assists.

Judah Mintz scored 21 points to lead seventh-seed Syracuse (20-12). Maliq Brown, Chris Bell and Quadir Copeland added 11 points apiece.

Taylor scored 10 points while O’Connell and Burns combined for 17 to help NC State build a 35-32 lead at the break. Mintz led the Orange with 11 first-half points.

Syracuse defeated NC State 77-65 at home and 87-83 on the road. The Orange finished the regular season winning four of their last five games.

Of Note

• NC State improves to 5-2 all-time in ACC Tournament games played in Washington, D.C.
• NC State picks up the fourth win in ACC Tournament history for a ten-seed over the seventh-seed in the second round and the first since 2021. The Wolfpack will look to become just the second ten-seed in tournament history to topple the two-seed in the quarterfinals when they meet Duke.
• Duke won the previous meeting against NC State this season, 79-64, in Raleigh. The Blue Devils also won the most recent ACC Tournament meeting the two schools, 92-89, on March 9, 2016 in Washington, D.C.
• The Wolfpack improves to 2-1 in ACC Tournament play against Syracuse. NC State’s previous win over the Orange came in 2014 as the seventh-seed.
• After falling twice in the regular season to the Orange, the Wolfpack picked up its first win of the season over Syracuse. NC State cuts into the all-time series deficit, now trailing 14-7.
• Mohamed Diarra had a career-day for the Wolfpack, notching a career-high six assists to pair with 14 rebounds. Wednesday matched the second-highest rebounding effort of Diarra’s career.
• NC State pulled down 17 offensive rebounds, the team’s most in a single-game since January 3, 2024 at Notre Dame.
• With 4:33 remaining in the contest, Casey Morsell knocked down a free throw and became the 57th player in NC State history to score 1,000 points with the Wolfpack program.