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Syracuse led NC State by 11 with 12:30 left in the second half, an advantage reached after Joe Girard III threaded a pass to Jesse Edwards positioned near the blocks for the dunk. But it took until the game’s final two minutes to pull away for an 89-82 win. The Wolfpack clawed at the Orange’s lead, forcing SU turnovers and turning them into transition points, including a Dereon Seabron dunk. Seabron’s turnover with 25 seconds left, however, allowed Girard to draw that final foul, sink those final two shots and seal the Orange’s first set of back-to-back wins since the calendar flipped to 2022.

The Orange held off a 3-point barrage in the first half by NC State, and for a second consecutive game, escaped despite spotty defense in the opening frame. Terquavion Smith led the Wolfpack with 25 points, while Seabron added 17 and eight rebounds.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s win over the Wolfpack:

3s, 3s, 3s, 3s … and more 3s for NC State

After Edwards began the game with a layup, Smith stood a foot or two behind the 3-point arc on the right wing. Buddy Boeheim positioned himself in front of him, swinging his hand in front of his face to prevent a 3-point attempt from the NC State guard who scored 34 points against North Carolina four days prior.

Smith sank that shot and proceeded to hit six others throughout the rest of the game. Twenty of NC State’s 30 shots in the opening frame were 3s, and it hit 10 of them — its most in a half this season. Entering the game, 3-point shooting wasn’t a strength of the Wolfpack, though. They ranked 10th out of 14 teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and 174th nationally in 3-point percentage, according to KenPom. But after a pair of Girard free throws tied the game at 20, the next four NC State makes came from behind the 3-point arc.

SU opened the second half in its 1-1-3 defense to counter NC State’s 3-point barrage, but the Wolfpack still executed a drive-and-kick to free up a 3 for Casey Morsell from the corner. Thomas Allen added a 3 with 9:30 left to pull the Wolfpack within two, out of a Syracuse timeout, and that prompted the tight finish in the game’s final minutes, but the Wolfpack shot 6-of-19 from beyond the arc in the final frame.

The opposite for SU

Instead of settling for deep 3s trying to match NC State’s approach, Syracuse attempted to navigate NC State’s defense inside the arc — relying on a blend of mid-range jumpers, rolls for layups by screeners and second-chance points to keep within striking distance through the second half.

What resulted was the latest example of a balanced offense, with all five starters scoring at least 16 points and Edwards and Cole Swider both leading with 19. Swider then hit a jumper after he curled around Edwards’ screen, drew a foul and hit the ensuing free throw to put SU ahead by four in the second half, and he followed with a 3-pointer from the left wing that helped keep the Orange’s lead intact.

But early on, before landing on the bench in the first half with foul trouble, and especially in the game’s opening minutes, Edwards commanded attention on the Orange’s offensive possessions and either scored or assisted on five of their first six baskets. He rolled off screens, flashing his hand en route to the basket, and collected passes for dunks while threading some of his own — like a backdoor cut to Swider or kick-outs that created potential 3-point looks.

Edwards and Frank Anselem, SU’s backup center, both found themselves in foul trouble in the first half — Syracuse committed eight team fouls, and five of those were by those two — but the Orange still managed to score 36 points in the paint against an NC State team missing Manny Bates as well as other center depth, which limited the Wolfpack to just eight scholarship players in Raleigh on Wednesday.

After two games, Jimmy’s back

After NC State fell behind in the second half but then erased the deficit out of the timeout, Jimmy Boeheim tracked the ball toward the sideline after a Wolfpack defender had knocked it away on the other side of the court. He picked it up, scanned the opening in front of him and realized he had an open 3-point shot, with enough room for his long shooting motion before someone could close out and he converted the basket.

Then, on the next transition possession, he received the ball over on the left wing but drove and brought the ball all the way over to the right block — where he cupped the ball from underneath and lofted it off the backboard, building the Orange’s lead back up. After combining for just 14 points in Syracuse’s last two games, shooting 5-for-15 in that span, he finished with 16 against the Wolfpack.

Girard’s one turnover, and plenty of assists

Girard’s one turnover was his fewest since he committed one against Pittsburgh on Jan. 11, and he added eight assists — his most since Syracuse faced Colgate in the third game of the season. He executed a smooth, no-look pass to Edwards in transition early in the first half and opened the second half by finding SU’s center for another roll to the basket.

After committing six turnovers in the Orange’s ugly loss to Pittsburgh last Tuesday, Girard has now finished with two or fewer in their past two games.

Published on February 2, 2022 at 11:21 pm

Contact Andrew: [email protected] | @CraneAndrew