Published Jan 27, 2024
Syracuse rolls in first half, coasts past North Carolina State
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Jim Stechschulte  •  The Juice Online
Associate Editor/Columnist
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After taking a few minutes to warm up, Syracuse turned in a dominant first half performance that allowed them to coast to a 77-65 victory over North Carolina State at the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday night. The Orange (14-6, 5-4 ACC) stifled the Wolfpack (13-7, 5-4) late in the first half, holding them without a field goal for the final 8:21 before halftime. That allowed SU to grab a 16-point lead at the break and ride that to the finish line.

The Syracuse defense was stingy most of the night, holding N.C. State to just 35.8 percent shooting in the game, including a meager 20.7 percent in the opening half. That first half shooting mark by the ‘Pack included making a single lay-up in a dozen chances and missing their only dunk attempt.

The Orange also snagged seven steals in the opening half and forced 14 turnovers overall, converting them into 16 points in the game. Judah Mintz played a big part in SU’s 32-11 advantage in free throws, earning 20 free throws on his own.

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Mintz’s backcourt mate, J.J. Starling, carried the load early for the Orange. After both teams scuffled for several possessions, Starling put the SU offense on his shoulders, scoring the team’s first ten points and keeping them in the game through the opening six minutes.

The two teams stayed within one possession of each other until Chris Bell started to sizzle, ending a streak of ten straight misses by Syracuse. The small forward drilled three 3-pointers in just over two minutes, forcing an N.C. State timeout. When the action resumed, Bell got a steal and went the distance for an emphatic breakaway slam, capping a run of 13 straight Orange points and giving the hosts a 28-18 lead.

Bell was given a technical foul after the dunk, enabling the guests to snap their scoreless streak. However, the Orange defense did not let up, as they continued to hold the ‘Pack without a field goal for the final 8:21 of the opening half. Mintz closed the session with seven straight points, pushing the Syracuse run to 23-4 and giving them a 38-22 halftime lead.

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That generous halftime margin made the second half mostly stress-free for the Orange. They put together a 7-1 run early in the second half to take their largest lead of the night at 49-28. About four-and-a-half minutes later, North Carolina State scored nine out of 12 points to trim the margin to 57-43 with 8:45 remaining.

The Wolfpack would clip the margin down to 11 with a quick pair of lay-ups with under six minutes to play, then nine with 2:12 on the clock, but turned the ball over after forcing a jump ball. Starling then added a pair from the line and Mintz led Quadir Copeland for a dunk behind the defense to push the SU lead to 75-62 and make things academic from there.

Starling hit four 3-pointers in the game as he posted a career-high 26 points to lead all scorers. Mintz made 14 of his 20 foul shots as he just missed a double-double with 20 points and nine assists with four steals on the defensive end. Bell had 11 of his 13 points in the first half while Benny Williams had eight of his 11 after the break.

D.J. Horne and Casey Morsell had 15 and 14 points, respectively, to pace the Wolfpack, but combined to shoot just 9-of-27 overall and 3-of-15 from long range, including Morsell missing all five of his 3-point attempts. D.J. Burns Jr. added ten points off the bench for N.C. State.

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