NC State struggles in defeat against Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The North Carolina State Wolfpack fell to the Syracuse Orange 77-65 Saturday night in the JMA Wireless Dome. 

Both teams remained consistent throughout the first 10 minutes, taking turns with the lead. 

Syracuse went on a 13-0 run with the help of two three-pointers from Chris Bell and forced NC State into a two-minute drought. 

NC State struggled going into halftime missing its last nine shot attempts and gave up too many fouls. Syracuse ended the half with a 7-0 run. 

Almost immediately, the Pack fouls.  

NC State got a rhythm going midway through the second half while chopping its deficit to 13 with 6:32 remaining versus 17 at the end of the first half. 

The Pack continued to storm back to bring the deficit within 10 but was not able to stop Syracuse from putting points on the board. 

NC State played decent half-court offense, making Syracuse struggle earlier on. Syracuse was able to attack more from the outside. Offensively they were able to expose the Pack offense in many ways including multiple runs and slam dunks. 

There were too many fouls from both sides, however, NC State struggled more with the struggle of missed shots. Syracuse managed to force the Pack on multiple scoring droughts and to shoot 35% of field goals. 

Moving forward NC State needs to critique its play and stop committing and forcing lousy plays that create fouls. The Pack recorded 23 fouls, including 14 turnovers that resulted in 16 points for the Syracuse Orange.