The NC State men's basketball team fell to Syracuse, 77-65, Saturday evening inside the JMA Wireless Dome.
With the loss, NC State falls to 13-7, 5-4 in the ACC, while Syracuse improves to 14-6, 5-4 in the ACC.
For the second straight game, cold shooting in the first half put the Pack in a hole, but unlike last game at Virginia where NC State battled back in the second half to take the lead, it was never able to catch the Orange on Saturday night.
DJ Horne led the Pack with 15 points.
Casey Morsell (14 points) and
DJ Burns, Jr., (10 points) also reached double figures for NC State.
Dennis Parker, Jr., led NC State with seven rebounds off the bench.
The Pack took an 18-15 lead on a
DJ Burns, Jr., jumper with 8:21 left in the opening half, but that proved to be the last field goal of the half for NC State.
The Wolfpack missed its last 12 field goals of the first half to shoot just 20.7 percent (6-of-29) from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Syracuse jumped on NC State's cold streak ending the half on a 23-4 run to take a 38-22 lead into the halftime locker room.
The 16-point deficit was the largest halftime lead for an opponent against the Pack this season.
NC State got withing single digits with 2:07 to play in the game, but Syracuse responded with six consecutive points to end the Pack's attempt at a comeback.
J.J. Starling led Syracuse with 26 points while Judah Mintz added 20 for the Orange.
NC State is back in action Tuesday night when it starts a three-game homestand with a visit from Miami Tipoff at PNC Arena is scheduled for 9 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN2.
https://gopack.com/news/2024/1/27/mens-basketball-pack-falls-to-syracuse