NC State men’s basketball fell to Syracuse 74-60 at the JMA Wireless Dome Wednesday night in New York, pushing the Pack to 0-9 on the road this season while taking its path to the ACC Tournament out of its hands.
The Pack needed to win out to guarantee it a spot in the ACC tournament. Now, it relies on California losing out, and Boston College to only beat the Golden Bears. NC State seemed to be back on track after a comfortable victory over Wake Forest, but the Pack reverted back to how it played during its nine-game losing streak.
Against Wake Forest, freshman guard Paul McNeill put up a career-high 24 points, helping the Pack stay in the hunt. With students chanting “MVP” at the end of the game, it seemed like McNeil might be the answer to all of the Wolfpack’s offensive problems.
It’s tough to follow up a career performance, and it was clear when his first shot left his hand that McNeil wasn’t going to be a factor against the Orange. He finished with two points in 21 minutes.
Senior forward Dontrez Styles continued to be the best player for the Wolfpack, providing a spark with a 4-10 performance from behind the arc, finishing with 17 points. No other NC State player reached double figures.
Styles also provided much-needed defensive help in the paint as Syracuse center Eddie Lampkin Jr. dominated, scoring 14 down low. Syracuse finished with 46 points in the paint compared to the Wolfpack’s 22.
The Wolfpack was never competitive with the Orange. Syracuse led by a margin equal to or greater than 10 for over 32 minutes of the game and held a lead of at least seven points from 3:41 into the game and onward.
Part of the reason why the Pack gave up a sizable lead to the Orange was its reliance on the 3-pointer. In the first half against Wake Forest, NC State went 6-17 from 3-point range. Against Syracuse, it went 2-13 in the first half. It was clear players were settling for shots they had made in the previous game, but nothing was falling.
Notably, senior guard Jayden Taylor, the Wolfpack’s second-leading scorer, finished with zero points.
Senior forward Ben Middlebrooks finished with six points, but foul trouble kept him out of the game for much of the second half as Lampkin pushed around the Pack’s bigs, forcing them to foul.
As the Pack wraps up the regular season, it is unclear whether it will be participating in the ACC Tournament. Nonetheless, the inability to score the basketball has led to a rather disappointing season for NC State.
Next, the Pack will take on Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. If it wants to hold on to a sliver of hope of playing in the postseason, this game is a must-win.
