National Basketball Association
Syracuse 56, N.C. State 55
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 15, 2014
Where: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York
Officials:
# Sean Hull, # Ray Natalli, # Mike Stuart
Attendance:
31572
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 1 Syracuse 56, North Carolina State 55: C.J. Fair converted a transition layup with six seconds left as the host Orange remained undefeated by squeaking past the stunned Wolfpack.
Coming off Wednesday's dramatic win over No. 23 Pittsburgh on Tyler Ennis' 35-footer at the buzzer, the Orange (25-0, 12-0 ACC) continued the longest winning streak in school history thanks to two key turnovers by the Wolfpack (16-9, 6-6) in the final minute. The second one wound up in the hands of Rakeem Christmas, who passed to Ennis, and the freshman point guard found a leaking Fair for the decisive hoop.
T.J. Warren, whose last-second jumper misfired, scored a game-high 23 points and freshman center Kyle Washington tied his career high of 10 points by halftime before finishing with 14 and 10 rebounds for the Wolfpack. Christmas collected 14 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks for the Orange while Jerami Grant recorded 12 points and 14 boards.
In a game in which neither team led by more than five points, North Carolina State opened up a 50-45 advantage on a three-point play by Warren followed by Ralston Turner's 3-pointer with less than seven minutes remaining. The Orange scored the next six points to go ahead, but Warren's jumper seesawed things back in the Wolfpack's favor near the four-minute mark.
Syracuse led 53-52 with just over a minute left when Ennis fouled Turner on a 3-point attempt, and the junior swingman made all three free throws. Fair hit 1-of-2 foul shots with 41 seconds to play before North Carolina State's Desmond Lee dribbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds, although Ennis was called for an offensive foul on the ensuing possession, giving the ball back to the Wolfpack to set up their final gaffe.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Warren and Washington each scored 10 first-half points as the teams went into the locker room tied at 26. The Wolfpack big men were a combined 10-of-18 in the first half while their teammates were just 1-of-11. ... Fair finished with 11 points but shot just 5-of-16 while Ennis and Trevor Cooney each went 3-of-10 from the field for a combined 17 points. ... Neither team received much bench help, as all the reserves combined for seven points on 1-of-13 shooting.
Top Game Performances
N.C. State |
|
Syracuse |
T.J. Warren 23 |
Scoring |
Rakeem Christmas 14 |
Tyler Lewis 6 |
Assists |
Tyler Ennis 6 |
Kyle Washington 10 |
Rebounds |
Jerami Grant 14 |
Ralston Turner 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Rakeem Christmas 6 |
T.J. Warren 3 |
Steals |
Rakeem Christmas 1 |
N/A |
Blocks |
Rakeem Christmas 7 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
N.C. State
|
55 |
39.3 |
4-14 |
7-14 |
12 |
33 |
0 |
4 |
10 |
Syracuse
|
56 |
35.2 |
2-12 |
16-22 |
10 |
36 |
9 |
5 |
9 |