Syracuse Loses to NC State In ACC Tournament

Wednesday, March 13

Washington, DC

7 PM

Syracuse University

20-12,11-9ACC

NC State University

19-14,9-11ACC

NC State

Syracuse

3/13/2024 9:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Press Conference Judah Mintz Interview JJ Starling Interview Photo Gallery

Sophomore guard Judah Mintz scored 21 points to lead all scorers, but Syracuse (20-12) lost to NC State (19-14), 83-65, in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Wednesday night in the Capital One Arena.

Mintz led four Orange performers who scored in double-figures. Sophomores Maliq Brown, a center, forward Chris Bell and swingman Quadir Copeland each contributed 11 points. Brown also grabbed 12 rebounds for his third consecutive double-double.

NC State junior guard Jayden Taylor scored a team-leading 18 points. Graduate guards DJ Horne and Michael O'Connell produced 16 points apiece. Graduate forward DJ Burns Jr. added 15 points to round out the Wolfpack players who scored double-digits. Junior forward Mohamed Diarra scored eight points and had a game-leading 14 boards.

WHEN THE GAME WAS DECIDED
The score was even at 39-39 at the 18:29 mark in the second half. NC State powered to a 21-2 run that put them ahead, 58-41, with 12:33 remaining. Horne scored 11, Taylor knocked down two 3-pointers, and Burns Jr. and Diarra each added two points during the stretch. Once the Wolfpack went ahead, they kept the lead for good. The Orange battled back with seven unanswered points after Bell drained a 3-pointer and pull-up jumper, and Copeland drove for a layup that cut their deficit to 10 with 10:12 to go. NC State responded with back-to-back threes from O'Connell and Horne, and a dunk from Middlebrooks, to go ahead, 68-50, with 8:23 left.

WOLFPACK PULL AWAY IN SECOND HALF
After the Orange won the rebounding battle in the first half by a 21-17 margin, the Wolfpack grabbed 23 boards to Syracuse's 10 in the final 20 minutes. Of the 23 second-half rebounds for NC State, 12 were on the offensive end.

Starling swiped it from O'Connell and found Mintz for an alley-oop to open the second half. Brown snagged it from O'Connell again and found Bell for his first 3-pointer of the game. The five unanswered points gave the Orange a 37-35 lead just 51 seconds into the second half. With the score knotted at 39-39, the Wolfpack converted nine consecutive points. Horne knocked down a jumper, Diarra made two at the line, Burns Jr. laid one in and Taylor capped off the run with a 3-pointer to put NC State in front, 46-39, with 16:04 to go. Following a Starling jumper, Horne scored eight of 12-straight points for the Wolfpack that extended their lead to 17 with 12:23 remaining. The Wolfpack led by as much as 24 with 2:50 remaining. Syracuse ended the contest on a six-point run, but NC State secured the victory.

TUG-OF-WAR TO START
The Orange jumped to a 6-1 lead to begin the contest after a slam dunk from Brown and two buckets from Mintz. Syracuse led for the first 5:06 of the contest. The Wolfpack grabbed a one-point advantage with 14:54 to go in the first half following a conventional three-point play from Burns Jr. and 3-pointer from O'Connell. After trading buckets, Brown and Copeland hit consecutive shots from long range to go ahead be five, 16-11, with 11:16 left in the first period.

The squads traded runs from the 10:37-mark to 2:22 remaining in the half. NC State evened the score at 16-16 after a 3-pointer form Taylor and hookshot from Burns Jr. Syracuse countered with a conventional three-point play from Mintz and dunk from Brown that gave the Orange a 21-16 advantage with 9:17 left before halftime. The Wolfpack strung together seven straight points to take the lead back, 23-21, with 7:40 to go in the first half. The score was tied on four occasions from the 6:33 mark until 2:22 left in the period. NC State ended the half on a 6-3 run to go into the intermission with a 35-32 advantage.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

Mintz has scored in double-digits in 30-of-32 games this season. He tallied 20-or-more points in each of the most recent five games.
Bell went three-of-five from 3-point range. He ranks fifth in program history for 3-pointers made by a sophomore with 84.
Brown logged two blocks and two steals in the contest. He has at least two steals in 23-of-32 outings this season.
Mintz currently sits at fourth in Syracuse history in free throws made (202) and third in free throw attempts (264).
The Orange were plagued by a season-high 19 turnovers.
The Wolfpack scored 30 points off of Syracuse's turnovers and had a 20-7 advantage in second-chance points.
Syracuse's advantage in the all-time series with NC State was shaved to 14-7.

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