Syracuse back to .500 with a 89-82 win over NC State

After a decisive 94-72 win against Wake Forest, Saturday night at the Dome, the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team got out to a boisterous North Carolina State home crowd but ultimately came out with an 89-82 win when the final buzzer sounded.

Jesse Edwards and Cole Swider led Syracuse in scoring with 19 points each, the rest of Syracuse’s starters scoring 16 points or more. The Orange were red hot from three tonight, finishing the shooting 57.3% from distance on 11-19 shooting.

Syracuse got right into motion, at the hands of a Buddy Boeheim feed to Jesse Edwards for a lay-up off the glass in the first 15 seconds of the contest. After giving up two baskets, Syracuse fired right back off a Cole Swider lay-up and a Joe Girard three-pointer giving them a 7-5 lead.

After giving up five straight points, Syracuse brought the heat at the Wolfpack, dominating inside the paint. Swider scored inside again, and Jesse Edwards got a dunk and connected with a lay-up and a foul to tie the game up 13-13 heading into the first time out of the game, nearly five minutes into the first half.

After Edwards connected on his free throw, Syracuse went scoreless for two minutes giving up two baskets and their lead, trailing NC State 17-14. Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim both connected on baskets inside the arc, but NC State continued making big shots. Terquavion Smith connected on his second three of the night to give the Wolfpack a 20-18 lead.

After Joe Girard drew a foul he connected on both free throws to tie the game up, until Breon Pass connected on his first three of the night. Coming out of a timeout, Syracuse brought in Symir Torrence off the bench to give Girard his first rest of the night. The energy of the NC state home crowd helped the Wolfpack to a 6-0 scoring run and a 29-22 lead following a Jimmy Boeheim lay-up.

Following a foul Joe Girard drew from a distance, Frank Anselem got subbed in for the first time. While Girard made all three, NC State came right back hitting a three extending their lead to five points. Jimmy Boeheim narrowed the gap with a lay-up, Syracuse still trailing 27-32.

Following Buddy Boeheim getting sent to the line, Benny Williams got subbed in for Cole Swider at the 6:49 mark. After connecting on both, Jaylon Gibson scored with contact at the rim giving the Wolfpack a 35-29 lead.

The Boeheim brothers then attempted to bring the Orange back into the game. Buddy connected on a three and Jimmy made another lay-up, but Dereon Seabron connected on his first three of the night extending NC state’s lead to 38-34, with 4:49 left in the half.

Following two made free throws from Dereon Seabron, Buddy scored his 9th point of the night and Cole Swider made his first three of the game, meaning Cuse was now only trailing by 1 with less than 90 seconds in the half. Following a shooting foul on Seabron, Girard tied the game 42-42 with another three-pointer. However, Syracuse ended the first half trailing by three after Smith's 4th three of the night.

Syracuse shot 48.5% on 15-31 from the field in the first half led by Buddy Boeheim's 11 points while the Wolfpack shot 50% on 15-30 shooting led by Terquavion Smith’s 14 points on 4-8 shooting from distance.

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To open the second half, Casey Morsell splashed a fading three, reigniting the NC State home crowd. Cuse came back though with a 12-0 run. Edwards connected on a dunk and lay-up. Buddy made his second three of the game. Jimmy Boeheim made another lay-up and to cap it off a Joe Girard three, giving the Orange a 54-48 lead barely three minutes into the second half.

NC State fired back with a 5-0 run, but Jimmy Boeheim silenced the home crowd making a three and a lay-up, Cuse still leading 59-53 with 14:44 left to play.

Coming out of a timeout, Cole Swider connected on another three, giving Cuse a nine-point lead and his 10th point of the game. Following a Seabron lay-up, Girard made his third three of the contest, extending Syracuse’s lead to double digits. After exchanging baskets for around two minutes, Jesse Edwards connected on a lay-up with contact at the rim putting Cuse up 70-60 while scoring his 16th point of the game with the chance for one more.

Following an Edwards missed free-throw, NC State began to come back. Casey Morsell made a three and the NC state defense drew a charge, leading to a dunk on the other end from Jaylon Gibson. However, Syracuse still maintained a 70-65 lead even with a chaotic NC State home crowd chanting as loud as they could with less than 10 minutes to play.

Coming out of the timeout, Thomas Allen connected on the Wolfpack’s 15th made three as a team, and cut Syracuse’s lead to 2 points. With the defense all over Buddy, he made a slick pass inside to Edwards for a lay-up and extended their lead to four. Jalen Gibson then connected on a lay-up inside with contact while connecting on the free throw to narrow the Orange lead 72-71 with 8:09 left to play.

Swider then connected on a jumper from the top of the key with contact, connecting on the free throw. After two Wolfpack baskets, Buddy and Swider each connected from distance to put Syracuse up 81-77 with 3:34 remaining in the second half.

Terquavion Smith came out of Wolfpack timeout and connected on another shot from a distance for his 25th point of the game. Buddy came right back at the wolf pack for a lay-up keeping Cuse in the lead 83-80.

After two Wolfpack free throws, Swider made his fourth three of the contest to put Cuse up four with less than two minutes to play.

Edwards then got fouled and made 1-2 from the stripe. After a scuffle for a rebound on defense, Swider made a sloppy pass leading to Terquavion Smith sprinting for the ball and accidentally stepping out of bounds, which was a huge break for the Orange.

Girard was then intentionally fouled and connected on both free throws putting Syracuse up 89-82 with 25 seconds left in the game, ultimately winning the contest.

Final Stats

Cole Swider and Jesse Edwards led the Orange in scoring with 19 each, with the other starters scoring 16+ points. The Orange finished the contest shooting 59.3 percent from the field on 32-54 shooting and 57.9% on 11-19 form distance.

NC State was led by Terquavion Smith’s 25 points and Dereon Seabron 17 point efforts. They finished the contest shooting 43.3% on 29-67 from the field and 41% on 16-39 from distance.

Next up

Syracuse looks to extend their win streak to three games this weekend in front of their home crowd at the Dome as they face the Louisville Cardinals at 2 PM EST.