The NC State men’s basketball team fell to the Syracuse Orange in an electric offensive showing by both teams, losing 89-82 inside PNC Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 2.
Despite career performances from sophomore forward Jaylon Gibson and freshman guard Terquavion Smith, along with strong guard play from redshirt sophomore Dereon Seabron, redshirt senior Thomas Allen and junior Casey Morsell, and a bevy of impressive offensive stats, NC State was unable to contain the Boeheim family in yet another disappointing loss.
“My first takeaway from the game is that we’re young and we’re undermanned,” said head coach Kevin Keatts. “But man, they’re playing hard for me. I know that there [were] a lot of questions about whether this team would respond after the way we played at Carolina. … I don’t think there’s any doubt in my mind that our guys came back and fought tonight.”
Before the game, it was announced that sophomore forward Ebenezer Dowuona would miss the game with a lower leg injury he suffered in the game against UNC-Chapel Hill. That left Gibson as the lone pure big man on NC State’s roster and left the Pack with just eight scholarship players
Gibson, who has been raw all season, came into the game and gave a performance that embodied the team’s spirit this season: just compete. Gibson finished with career highs in points, with 14, and rebounds, with six, to go along with a steal, a block and no turnovers or fouls. Four of Gibson’s boards came on the offensive end, and he had several slams that hyped up the crowd inside PNC. At two distinct points in the game, “Jay-lon Gib-son” and “M-V-P” chants broke out in the arena.
“Not really a lot of pressure,” Gibson said. “Just go in there and play freely with a lot of energy. I knew if I made a mistake I wasn’t coming out of the game. Just get past that mistake and play hard. … Before the game, [Seabron] was saying ‘This is your game. This is your breakout game. Just hoop.’”
It was a spirited effort, aided by one of the best offensive displays the Pack has put on this season. NC State finished with a season-high 20 assists on 29 buckets and shot 41% on a whopping 39 attempts from deep, also a season high. Fresh off his career-high 34-point outing against UNC, Smith put up 25 points on seven 3s and put his improved defense on display once more.
Even legendary Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim was impressed with some of the Pack’s efforts.
“They’re difficult because Seabron gets in the lane and if you don’t help on him, he gets a layup,” Jim Boeheim said. “And if you help, he gets it to the shooter. It’s a hard play. It’s hard to stop.”
Unfortunately for the Wolfpack, Syracuse somehow managed to have an even better offensive outing. The Orange rode a ridiculous second-half performance that saw it go 11 for 11 from the field to start the latter half, not missing a shot until just 9:54 was left in regulation. Syracuse shot 59.3% from the field and 57.9% from deep with 11 makes from that range.
Syracuse’s starting lineup played practically the whole game, with the Orange getting just 20 bench minutes and no scores from the second unit. The Boeheim brothers, of course, gave NC State issues all night long and combined for 33 points and 11 rebounds. Buddy Boeheim, who NC State fans fondly remember for dropping 27 on the Pack in a big ‘Cuse win in the ACC Tournament last season, wasn’t as fearsome as he was in that game, but made plays all over the court in the Syracuse win.
Rounding out the Orange’s starting lineup, Cole Swider didn’t miss a 3 in the game and combined with Joseph Girard III for 37 points between the two. Meanwhile, big man Jesse Edwards took advantage of his defensive mismatch against Gibson and shot 8 of 9 from the field to go along with three blocks.
One player that didn’t contribute to the Pack’s efforts was senior forward Jericole Hellems. According to Keatts, Hellems was originally slotted to play some small-ball minutes at the five, but he got into early foul trouble and played just 12 minutes in the contest.
The opening minutes of the matchup dictated the kind of game that was en route for the Wolfpack in terms of offensive energy. Smith had five quick points right out of the gate and the two teams combined to score 17 points in the first three minutes, going at each other’s throats. Gibson began the game a bit passively, getting caught lacking on the defensive end and allowing Edwards to sneak in for seven quick points.
However, the Pack was able to lock in after the game was tied up at 20 apiece, going on a 9-2 run after three separate players — Smith, Allen and freshman guard Breon Pass — connected on 3-pointers.
Settling in was key for the Pack as it faced a well-known defense in Jim Boeheim’s zone look. The zone can be beaten by moving the ball around, shifting the look of the zone and having your players hit the gaps. After a couple of plays where NC State struggled to get a shot off in time, it settled in, moved the ball around and forced the zone to move around, which ended up leading to easy looks in the middle for Gibson.
In total, NC State hit 10 of its 20 first-half 3-point attempts, getting 14 points from Smith before the break and owning a slight lead over the Orange at the half.
That lead didn’t last long in the second half. Morsell hit an astounding moving 3-pointer to open the gates for NC State, but the Orange quickly went on a 12-0 run. That run spiraled out of control, moving to a 21-5 mark while NC State shot just 2 of 11 in that timeframe. Adversely, Syracuse connected on an absurd 77.8% of its 3-point attempts.
Once again, the Wolfpack settled in and made it a close game, battling back and making it a one-possession game a ridiculous six times in the last 9:30.
Unfortunately for it, NC State couldn’t complete the comeback in the high-scoring affair, falling 89-82.
“We have a mentality that we are down on our luck right now,” Keatts said. “We don’t know why, nobody knows why. We think it will make us stronger in the end, it is unfortunate, but what are we going to do? We are not going to cry or fold the season in. We are going to come out and fight. That is what keeps me going with this team because I don’t see anyone putting their head down saying, ‘poor me.’ We know we don’t have the depth that we deserve, we don’t have the depth that has been recruited. At the end of the day, our guys are at every practice [and] are competing. You wouldn’t know if we are three-and-something or undefeated in the conference because that is the way they respond. That is the type of guys I have in the locker room.”
Next up, the Wolfpack will stay at home for a rematch with Notre Dame on Saturday, Feb. 3. That game will start at 3 p.m. and can be broadcast on ACC Network.
“Man, I’m f—ing proud,” Keatts said. “I’m just telling y’all now, I am proud of our guys, and I’m going to continue to be because those guys have every reason, in the locker room, to put their heads down and say ‘This ain’t going our way,’ and it doesn’t happen. It just doesn’t happen.”
