NC State Falls To Syracuse In ACC Tournament

GREENSBORO, NC – The NC State Wolfpack fell to the Syracuse Orange for the third time season, as they were defeated 89-68 in the second round of the ACC Tournament. This is the third time this season that the Orange has defeated the Wolfpack. 

The first four and a half minutes of the game were fast paced basketball as each team came out with high energy to get what was a limited crowd, up and on their feet. There was great hustle, solid shooting and some high flying dunks as the Orange held a 10-9 lead with 15:22 remaining in the first half.

After the Wolfpack scored the first basket following the break, Syracuse responded with a 12-1 run over two and a half minutes to force NC State coach Kevin Keatts to call a timeout as the Orange led 22-12 with 12 minutes left in the half. NC State was able to connect on four of their next five shots to cut the lead to five with 7:43 remaining in the first half.

The Wolfpack got sloppy over the next four minutes as they turned the ball over four times in that span to allow the Orange to bump the lead back to nine at the final media timeout of the first half.

The Wolfpack defense picked up their intensity to close the half on a 7-2 run to cut the Orange lead to five (43-38) at the end of the first half. Buddy Boheim came out on fire in the first half leading the Orange with 20 points on 8-11 shooting. Braxton Beverly led NC State at the half with nine points. Syrcause was torid in the first half shooting 58% from the field and 43% from behind the three-point line.

During the first half, Beverly scored his 1000th career point for the Wolfpack. Following the game Beverly said, “It’s such an honor to be on that list but it would have felt better with the win. I’m sure it’ll feel better later on down the road.”

NC State coach Kevin Keatts had some high praise for Boheim following the game saying, “that kid is the sixth leading scorer and did not even make the ACC honorable mention team. He hit some tough shots today.” 

Syracuse began the second half on a 10-0 run to extend the lead to 15 just two and a half minutes into the half. As the Wolfpack cut the lead down to 12, Buddy Boheim drilled a three-pointer, was fouled and converted the four-point play to give the Orange a 16-point lead with 16 minutes to play. 

NC State went on a few small runs over the next eight minutes, but every time, the Orange responded and were able to hold an 18-point (75-57) lead with 7:57 to play in the game. 

Syracuse was able to extend the lead to 24 with five minutes to play. The Wolfpack could not get any closer than 18 as the Orange closed out the Pack in the final minutes of the game. 

Syracuse was led by Buddy Boheim, who had a great day shooting, scoring 27 points on 10-16 from the field and Joseph Girard III with 14 points. The Wolfpack were led by DJ Funderburk with 14 points and six rebounds and Manny Bates with 12 points and seven rebounds. Syracuse shot an upsard 57% from the field and 48% from behind the three-point line. 

“I’m very dissapointed with the loss but I’m not dissapointed at all with the effort these guys showed all season.,” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said following the defeat. 

Up next for Syracuse will be a matchup with the top-seeded Virginia Cavaliers. Game time is at noon on ESPN or ESPN2. The Wolfpack, will now put their attention to the offseason, as they look to develop their young players over the summer and have a strong recruiting class coming in.