NC State Flys Past Syracuse in the 2nd Round of the ACCT, Crushing the Orange 83-65

After leading by 3 at the half, 35-32, NC State exploded in the 2nd half, crushing the Orange 83-65 in the 2nd round of the ACC Tournament this evening. At one point in the 2nd half, the Wolfpack went on a 21-2 run. For crying out loud, with 2:50 left in the contest, NC State led by 24 points.

After not playing in yesterdays victory over Louisville, All-ACC Guard DJ Horne came off the bench in the first half at the 15:38 mark. Horne didn’t score a single point in the first half, missing the two shots he took. After halftime, it was a different story, with Horne scoring 16 points in the 2nd half, making 6 of 11.

The Wolfpack didn’t shoot the ball as well as the Orange (42.4%/46.6%), but there were three areas in which NC State blew Syracuse out of the water that led them to victory.

NC State scored 30 points off of Syracuse’s 19 turnovers, which is the most turnovers forced by the Pack all season (the Orange scored 9 off of 10 TO’s).

NC State scored 20 second chance points off of 17 offensive boards, which marks a season high for the Pack (the Orange scored 7 off of 8 Offensive boards).

NC State made 20 free throws (Syracuse made 5).

It’s crazy…yesterday NC State scored the most points they have scored all year, and today the recorded season highs in offensive boards and turnovers forced.

Junior Jayden Taylor led the Wolfpack in scoring for the 2nd straight game, putting 18 points in the box score, making 6 of 12 from the field, and 3 of 7 from three.

Senior Michael O’Connell scored 16 points for the 2nd straight game.

Senior D.J. Burns was solid, scoring 15 points on 7 of 12 shooting, while grabbing 6 boards.

Junior Mohamed Diarra, who is fasting while honoring Ramadan, didn’t look weak at all, snagging 14 rebounds (7 offensive), which is the most rebounds by a Wolfpack player in the ACC Tournament since 2012 (CJ Leslie). The big fella also led NC State with 6 assists.

NC State was a 1.5-point underdog, and they covered the spread quite handedly.

The Wolfpack will look to ride significant momentum into tomorrows quarterfinal matchup against #2 seed Duke at 7pm.