Syracuse outruns NC State 77-68

RALEIGH, N.C- The NC State men’s basketball team fell to Syracuse, 77-68, inside of PNC Arena Tuesday night.

With the loss NC State falls to 8-8, 4-7 in the ACC, while Syracuse improves to 11-6, 5-5 in the ACC.

NC State committed a season-high 20 turnovers in the defeat and Syracuse recorded 11 steals, a season-best for an NC State opponent.

Redshirt junior guard Thomas Allen led the Pack with a season-best 17 points and added three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Redshirt senior forward D. J. Funderburk had 14 points and six rebounds off the bench while junior forward Jericole Hellems also reached double figures recording 11 points and four rebounds.

NC State shot 52.4 percent in the first half, but committed 13 turnovers which allowed Syracuse to take a one-point lead into the break. The Pack took its biggest lead of the opening half, 23-18, on a three-pointer by freshman guard, but the Orange scored the next five points to knot the game at 23. The Pack led 28-25 heading into the final media timeout of the half, but Syracuse went on a 9-0 run over less than two minutes of game action to take its biggest lead of the half with 1:44 to go. A 5-0 burst from NC State brought the Pack back within one at the break.

NC State never could get back in front in the second half. The Orange scored six of the first seven points of the second half to take a six-point lead, NC State responded with an 11-5 run to tie the game at 45 on two Funderburk free throws. Syracuse answered with a 9-1 run to take a 55-46 lead and stretched the lead to 10 with 8:22 to play.

The Pack went on a 7-0 run to cut the Syracuse lead to three, 65-62, with 6:14 to play, but NC State could get no closer as it would only make one field goal the rest of the game. A 10-2 run over the next four minutes effectively put the game out of reach.

Junior forward Alan Griffin led Syracuse with 22 points. Junior guard Buddy Boeheim recorded 16 points while Quincy Guerrier added 14 points and a team-high seven reobunds.

NC State returns to action Saturday to host Duke inside PNC Arena. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.