NC State eliminated from ACC Tounament by Syracuse, 89-68

NC State’s late season rally for a tournament bid ended on Wednesday, and it was a very loud, very resounding conclusion as the Pack was steamrolled by Syracuse.

The Orange lit the arena on fire with their shooting, going 14-29 from three and finishing the day 56% from the field. State was able to keep pace in the first half as it shot the ball pretty well in its own right, but it wasn’t consistent enough to keep up with the Orange’s 167% shooting.

Despite just a five-point halftime deficit, the game was over shortly after the second half began. The Pack came out attempting to play some basketball-adjacent sport that could be confused for basketball if you squinted really hard, and Syracuse immediately went on a huge run and scored with ease the rest of the game.

Keatts tried to counter Syracuse’s size with his biggest lineup, but he got very little from Hellems. State needs Hellems in order to be effective against the zone. The Pack really struggled to move the ball effectively and to score around the rim, where everything was contested. It ended the game 36% from the field, which was not even close to enough to overcome what was happening on the other end of the floor.

Syracuse was better in pretty much every facet of the game, and that team usually wins the basketball game. You can dig into the details if you’d like, but the Orange played great and State played poorly pretty much all the way around. So it goes.