The Orange had one of their better outings of the season, going wire-to-wire in defeating the Wolfpack. SU went a long way toward ensuring at least one postseason game, as they now hold tiebreakers over both N.C. State and Boston College, the first two teams on the outside looking in.

Here are five things that stuck out in the timely victory.

While they were successful throughout the night on offense, SU closed the game strong, making 13-of-17 shots to finish the night. That mark actually includes all but their first shot attempt of the second half. Syracuse only had 18 field goal attempts on 29 second half possessions due to taking 17 foul shots and committing seven turnovers.

The Orange had one of their best defensive efforts of the season against the Wolfpack, posting their best defensive efficiency numbers since defeating Georgia Tech in early January. Of note was SU’s best 2-point field goal percentage allowed on the season, as they allowed N.C. State to shoot just 37.8 percent inside the arc.

Jyare Davis and Eddie Lampkin both provided some lumber for the Orange in the game, combining for 29 points and 22 rebounds, including the latter’s 12th double-double of the year. N.C. State was willing to play physical with the starting post options for SU and they were both happy to oblige.

Lampkin enjoyed a significant weight and strength advantage over Ben Middlebrooks down low, grabbing five boards to go with four points in the first five minutes and change of action. Davis had a similar role to start the second half, scoring on a tip-in and a 3-point-play in the first three minutes out of the break.

Jaquan Carlos got out of the box quickly for the Orange, getting a transition lay-up before the game was 90 seconds old. The point guard also made Naheem McLeod welcome when he entered the game, setting him up twice for easy scores in pick-and-roll plays. Carlos added a jump shot shortly after to push the Syracuse lead to double digits before the game was nine minutes old.

SU focused on scoring in close in the game, taking a season low eight 3-point shots, making three. Of their 48 field goal attempts in the game, 28 were registered as either lay-ups or dunks, and 23 of their 25 2-point field goals came inside the paint. The Orange finished 25-of-40 on 2-point shots, their best mark against a major conference foe this season.

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