Four takeaways from Syracuse basketball’s 87-83 win at NC State

Syracuse improves to 17-10 on the season and 8-8 in ACC play after escaping NC State on the road.

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team was able to hold on and close out NC State from the free throw line to narrowly escape with an 87-83 victory on Tuesday night. Syracuse’s win from PNC Arena gave the team just its third road win of the season, aligned with a trend in college basketball where home teams are winning at an increased clip.

Chris Bell led the way in the first half, making his first eight threes before missing on his ninth attempt. Bell didn’t score in the second half but still finished as Syracuse’s leading scorer with 26 points. He was one three away from tying a program record for made threes in single game (nine). Quadir Copeland posted a career-high 25 points and had seven rebounds, not to mention some key plays late.

Judah Mintz did not score in the first half as Kyle Cuffe played extended minutes. Mintz would score 15 points in the second half. JJ Starling finished his night with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. DJ Horne led all scorers with 32 points for NC State. The Orange held the lead for over 35 minutes and led by as many as 18 only for NC State to take the lead with 3:15 to play. But Judah Mintz scored on a layup to reclaim the lead with 2:47 to play. Then Copeland and Mintz made four straight free throws to stave off a second half Wolfpack comeback.

Rebounding and turnovers turned out to be a non-story, as NC State marginally won the glass 32-30 and had ten turnovers to Syracuse’s 11. It’s hard to out-rebound by a wide margin when Syracuse is making shots. Syracuse shot 30-59 (50.8%) from the floor and 9-15 (60%) from three. The Orange finished 18-19 (94.7%) from the line. NC State shot 26-56 (46.4%) from the floor and 7-17 (41.2%) from three. The Wolfpack finished 24-29 (82.8%) from the line.

Syracuse has now won seven straight games against NC State and interestingly, the Orange has taken six of the seven meetings in PNC Arena. Syracuse also matched its highest win total of the previous two seasons (17).

Worth mention: Peter Carey was unavailable for this game as the redshirt freshman remains in concussion protocol.

To the takeaways.

The Bells and whistles

Despite the offense going away from Bell in the second half and devolving into stagnant one-on-one play, Syracuse weathered the storm and held on for the win. That was possible in large thanks due to Bell’s hot first half shooting.

Program record notwithstanding, Bell’s eight threes versus NC State were the most in the series since Michael Gbinije made eight triples against the Wolfpack in 2016. Bell would not eclipse John Gillon’s nine made threes in an overtime game at NC State in 2017.

Syracuse had some unfavorable whistles and non-whistles down the stretch, but on the game’s two most meaningful possessions the Orange got the calls and no-calls to go its way. With 20 seconds left and the game tied, Copeland drove left and earned a trip to the line after drawing a foul. On the next play when he got switched onto Horne, Copeland avoided a foul as Horne leaned into him searching for contact. There was no whistle and Mintz picked up the rebound. He was fouled and promptly made two free throws to put the game away.

Photo by Nicholas Faulkner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Clutch Q

Copeland technically has two game-winning shots this season: the buzzer-beater against Miami and the decisive layup that was ruled a goaltend against Louisville.

It won’t go down as any sort of game-winning play, but Copeland’s two clutch free throws to put Syracuse up 85-83 might as well have been game-deciding. With the pressure on, Copeland — just a 67 percent free throw shooter — went to the line and buried them both. Those free throws gave Syracuse the separation needed to put some game pressure on NC State on its penultimate offensive possession and ultimately, win the game.

There were earlier plays from the Philadelphia guard that were important too.

With the game knotted at 83 with 1:38 to play, Starling was forced into a tough shot and missed but Copeland crashed the glass and drew a foul. Although the next play resulted in a missed shot, Copeland’s hustle earned Syracuse an extra possession at a critical juncture. Then on the second to last NC State possession, Copeland stood his ground and didn’t foul on a DJ Horne shot attempt from the corner.

That’s not to mention Copeland’s and-one on DJ Burns with just over five minutes left and putback layup on the next play (Burns was called for an intentional foul). File those all as clutch plays from Copeland, who had a career night shooting 10-12 from the floor.

Mintz 1k

A footnote in the overall game, but Mintz scored his 1,000th career point at Syracuse. Mintz came into the day just four points shy of the mark. He’d have to wait until the second half as he was held scoreless in the first.

With Mintz scoring 1,000 points in just 59 games, only six players needed fewer games to accomplish the same feat at Syracuse.

Post-season hopes are alive

We’re not talking NCAA Tournament. With just two road wins prior to Tuesday it was important for Syracuse to pick up a win away from home in a true road setting. The Orange moved to 3-6 on the road with its other two wins coming at Georgetown and at Pittsburgh. Only two true road games remain at Louisville and Clemson to close out ACC play.

Of course, Syracuse likely faces a win-out scenario to even be considered for bubble talk heading into the ACC Tournament. But NC State ranked No. 75 in the NET coming into Tuesday. That meant a quadrant one win for Syracuse. By the time the NET refreshes on Wednesday the Wolfpack will likely drop in NET and into quadrant two. But either way, it’s a solid road win for a team in need of wins away from the dome.

It’s too early to say which post-season tournament the Orange could compete in but with a win at NC State on Tuesday, Syracuse validated its post-season hopes beyond the ACC Tournament.