Syracuse men’s basketball: Orange survive late rally to beat NC State 87-83 as Bell-Copeland duo shines

All hail Chris Bell.

Despite nearly blowing a 16-point lead, the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team (17-10, 8-8) scored a season-high point total in the first half and mustered enough shots late to survive on the road 87-83 versus NC State Wolfpack (16-10, 8-7).

After scoring 55 points in the first half led mainly be Chris Bell’s hot shooting, the Orange led as much as 59-43 before NC State stormed back in the second half to take a one-point lead. Copeland finished with a career-high 25 points on 10/12 shooting, including the game-winning free throws to hand Syracuse its first road win since January 16.

Bell finished with 26 points and shot 8/10 from three in the first half alone, while Judah Mintz (15 points, 4/14 shooting) and J.J. Starling (13 points, 6/15 shooting) were the other Syracuse players to finish in double-figures.

DJ Horne finished with a game-high 32 points, while three additional players finished in double-figures for the Wolfpack.

Bell proved to have the hot hand right from tip-off. After Syracuse went empty on its first possession, Bell knocked down three consecutive threes in a span of less than a minute and a half. He first hit a corner three off a pass from Starling to put Syracuse up one then followed that one up with two additional swishes to give the Orange an early 9-2 which forced NC State to call timeout.

The three-ball proved to be vital for both teams early — Horne knocked down back-to-back threes to get NC State within three, but a basket by Brown was soon followed up with Bell’s fourth three in just over the first five minutes of the game. The Orange led 14-8 at the first media timeout.

Bell knocked down his fifth three-pointer in five attempts and scored 15 of Syracuse’s first 17 points, while Horne contributed 12 of NC State’s first 16 points. The Wolfpack trimmed the Orange’s deficit toward the middle of the first half before a baseline slam by Copeland put ‘Cuse back up 23-16. At this point, Syracuse made eight of its first 12 shots (67%) in the game.

Syracuse’s offense continued to churn even when Mintz picked up his second foul with roughly 10 minutes in the half remaining. Starling continue to work in the mid-range while Copeland scored 8 points on 4/4 shooting right off the bench, including a fastbreak dunk (Syracuse’s 10th made basket in a row) to put the Orange up 33-23.

The magical first on offense only continued — Bell knocked down his seventh-straight three to give the Orange a 15-point lead (Syracuse’s largest of the game so far). At one point, Bell and Copeland combined for 40 of the Orange’s first 50 points on a perfect 13/13 shooting (writer’s note: yes, very much video game-like numbers).

Syracuse went into halftime with a 15-point lead (55-40) after scoring a season-high 55 points in the first half powered by Bell and Copeland. Syracuse shot 64% in the first half, including 8/12 from three (Bell was 8/9). Horne scored 21 points in the half for NC State, but no other player scored more than six points for the Wolfpack.

After a scoreless first half, Mintz came out aggressive on offense to start the second half. After knocking in two free throws, Mintz scored a driving layup off a give-and-go from Brown to give him his 1,000 career point with Syracuse (tied for seventh-fastest player in program history to reach the 1K milestone). He followed that up with an and-one mid-range jumper to put the Orange up 64-49 with 16 minutes to go.

The Wolfpack started to build some momentum after switching to more of a full-court press which led to some extra turnovers by the Orange. A 7-0 run by NC State saw Syracuse’s lead go down to eight points.

Starling and Copeland kept the offense up for a bit, but the momentum swung in NC State’s favor after Horne knocked down his sixth three-pointer to bring the Orange’s lead to 74-71 with seven minutes to go.

Mintz drilled a mid-ranger at the end of the shot clock to stop a 7-0 NC State run. Burns made a layup to tie the game at 76-76, but Copeland responded with five straight points off off a fastbreak layup plus an intentional foul which eventually led to another score.

With the game tied (83-83) with under two minutes to go, neither team could get a good look until Copeland knocked down two free throws with 13 seconds to go and Syracuse managed to get the last stop it needed to survive a scary comeback effort by the Wolfpack.

Up next for Syracuse is a return back to the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday for a matchup with Notre Dame to celebrate “Jim Boeheim Day.” Tip-off is at 12 p.m. EST on ESPN.