Ouch. That one hurts.

NC State met Syracuse on a day when Syracuse just wasn’t going to lose. The Orange played as complete a game as I’ve seen in the ACC all season. And it wasn’t just the fact that their players were knocking down shots (they shot 57% from the floor and 48% from 3) , it was a masterful job of coaching by Jim Boeheim.

Syracuse adjusted their zone, and it paid off

We broke down, in detail, how NC State had been very successful scoring against the Syracuse zone. They were attacking from the short corner and by getting the ball to the high post. But Syracuse adjusted. They started pinching their zone in and leaving the shot open from the wing.

The problem for NC State was that open shot was being given to Derreon Seabron, who is shooting just 23.5% from 3 point range this season. If your next question is “Well then why is Dereon Seabron in there?” Well, then I’ll take it you didn’t read the breakdown we linked above.

Syracuse was 2-0 vs. the Pack this season, and it was no coincidence. NC State’s roster just was not a good fit for the Orange. If NC State went big, without Beverly, in order to match up with Syracuse defensively, then Syracuse would collapse their zone and force NC State to shoot it with guys you really would rather not have shooting.

But if State goes small and brings in their shooters, suddenly the Syracuse offense targets those matchups and attacks them.

In this one, they really pressed up on the high post when Hellems was there and clamped down on the bigs on the block. When it was kicked out to Seabron, the shot was passed up and NC State had to start over. On the other end Syracuse was hitting contested shots and p pulling away. So Keatts went small and brought in his shooters. That worked for a while, but that cat and mouse game caught up with them, and Syracuse was just too hot .

Hellems and Funderburk Struggled

You need big games from you upperclassmen if you’re going to win in the postseason, and NC State just didn’t get that. Syracuse did a good job limiting Hellems ability to operate from the high post, but Hellems wasn’t able to adjust. He didn’t have the hot hand and he was a little careless when Syracuse ratcheted up their pressure, coughing it up 4 times.

With Syracuse committed to clenching down that zone, Funderuburk was facing his worst nightmare. Taller, longer bigs, creating massive traffic in the lane. Funderburk has really only struggled against longer bigs that can make up for their lack of quickness with their reach. Funderburk tried to get to the hoop quick, but it was denied. He tried to go up strong, blocked again. The senior big ramped up the intensity and physicality in the 2nd half, but it was too little too late.

The freshmen looked like freshmen

A group of freshmen leading your team in the ACC Tournament? What could go wrong?

In all seriousness, these freshmen have grown up a ton this season, but nothing prepares you for tournament basketball like playing tournament basketball at this level, and that showed. Hayes, Moore, and Seabron combined to go 9-26 (35%) and while they didn’t really turn it over much  (6 times), they only contributed 4 assists.

The bright spots were Cam and Shak going 4-8 from 3 point range and Seabron 8 boards (5 of which were offensive).

NC State’s Beverly Problem

NC State just didn’t matchup well against Syracuse. We’ve said it a thousand times. Beverly had to be on the floor to provide offense, but when he was, the Orange just went right at him.

You hate it for the kid because he’s out there playing as hard as he can. He’s physical, he’s constantly going hard, but he’s just too short and doesn’t have the length to defend larger guards. I hate even writing this, because Braxton is a senior who gave it all, all the time, but you can’t not mention that this matchup was the one Syracuse was really picking on.

You have to give Syracuse credit, too. When Beverly was in there, they ran their entire offense around exploiting the mismatch. You send help, the find the open man. You let him go one on one, and they shoot over him. They zeroed in on that advantage and they did a nearly perfect job of exploiting it.

Do realize, however, that Beverly wasn’t in there for his defense. Due to the loss of Devon Daniels, NC State had to really lean on Beverly for his perimeter scoring, This was especially true against teams like Syracuse that were long in the middle, and dared the Pack to beat them from outside. Braxton had a great first half, scoring 9 points on two 3s, but wasn’t able to keep it going in the 2nd half.

It was just Syracuse’s day

There were a few open 3s early on where guys were left open due to mental mistakes, or slow rotations. However, for the most part, Syracuse hit contested shots all night.

Sure, Cam could have switched that screen faster and he could have been there denying that pass, but c’mon. This is a bad shot and Hayes has his hand up the whole time.

Now, here is a play where NC State forced a loose ball, lost it back to Syracuse, who found Boeheim, who kicked to the corner. A poor closeout by Funderubrk caused Hayes to hedge, which left Boeheim open from deep. Now, even that is a contested 3 from that range, but Boeheim gets some kind of impossible bounce to fall.

Here is Braswell, falling down, throwing it at the rim, and the ball just somehow rolling in.

This is the type of stuff that went on all day. Right there you have 9 points that are really tough and somewhat lucky baskets. Could NC State have done a better job of defending? Sure, but when guys are making shots like this, it’s usually going to pretty hard to beat them.

What’s next?

There is a lot left to talk about despite NC State’s NCAA dreams being over.

Do they play in the NIT? I’d assume so. The seniors could finally get their real farewell in front of some fans at the PNC and the freshmen could get some extra post-season work.

Do any of the seniors come back? I know this isn’t something anyone is really talking about, but Devon Daniels, Braxton Beverly, and DJ Funderburk technically could come back for another season due to COVID rules put in place prior to the season. My guess is that they move on, but you never know. Devon Daniels surely has a sour taste in his mouth after the way his career ended and he’s going to need to prove he’s healthy if he wants a shot at the NBA. Does he do that in the G-League or does he feel like doing another year of college?

We’ll explore this and more in the coming few days.