Wednesday night, Syracuse had a fairly comfortable win over North Carolina State at the JMA Wireless Dome, 74-60. The Orange (12-16, 6-11 ACC) led by as many as 19 points in the second half, but needed to run off seven straight points to put the Wolfpack (11-17, 4-13 ACC) down with just under six minutes to play. The win snapped SU’s three-game slide and will go a long way toward guaranteeing them a spot on the ACC Tournament based on tiebreakers.

N.C. State struggled shooting the ball for most of the night, shooting just 30.0 percent from the floor in the first half and 34.4 percent overall. Meanwhile, Syracuse shot 58.3 percent from the field, their second highest mark of the campaign, and owned the inside, finishing with 38-30 rebounding and 46-22 points in the paint advantages.

The Orange jumped out to a hot start, using five points from Jyare Davis and four from Eddie Lampkin to grab a 13-3 lead and forcing a Wolfpack timeout just past the five-minute mark. N.C. State pulled back within seven, but a bench-heavy SU unit stepped on the gas, piling up a 13-4 run, led by Chris Bell’s five points and Kyle Cuffe Jr. adding four for a 28-12 lead with over eight minutes left in the opening half.

The Syracuse offense went into the cooler, not making a basket for over five minutes, but North Carolina State could not muster much more, only pulling within 31-19 with just over four minutes on the clock. Lucas Taylor pushed the margin to 15 twice with a 3-pointer, then a lay-up, but the ‘Pack got the last basket of the opening half to make it a 38-25 game at the break.

N.C. State drew first blood in the second half, but the Orange responded with 15 of the next 20 points to strengthen their lead to 52-33 just over six minutes out of the break. Led by Dontrez Styles’ 11 points, the Wolfpack responded with an 16-5 burst to get within 57-49.

Lampkin stopped the momentum by powering his way to a dunk, then J.J. Starling drained a 3 late in the shot clock and tacked on a jumper for seven straight points and a 64-49 SU lead with under six minutes on the clock. With order restored, North Carolina State never got closer than 11 points the rest of the night.

Starling scored 15 of his team-leading 17 points in the second half. Davis had a strong second half, as well, scoring ten of his 15 points after the break. Lampkin nearly had his 12th double-double in the first half and got there early in the second half en route to 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Styles was the lone member of the Wolfpack in double digits, finishing with 17 points. Michael O’Connell had nine points and Marcus Hill eight.

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