Postgame Observations: State 79, Syracuse 74
Say what you want about the upcoming tests against ACC frontrunners Duke and Florida State.
They're big games.
But while Tuesday's 79-74 victory at Syracuse doesn't have the same curb appeal as beating the Blue Devils or Seminoles would, it is just as important in the eyes of the NCAA tournament.
Because the Orange is ranked among the top 75 in the current NET rankings and State was playing on the road, the game counts as a Quad 1 victory. It's the Wolfpack's third in five such games, greatly enhancing its postseason resume with seven games remaining.
State (16-8, 7-6 ACC) didn't make things easy on itself. But when does it ever. The bottom line is that Devon Daniels tied a season high with 23 points, C.J. Bryce had another big game and the ice cream will taste as good as it always does.
Here's a look at how things went down at the Carrier Dome and what it all means moving forward:
◼ The Wolfpack has been forced to play shorthanded more times than not this season because of a seemingly endless series of injuries.
This time though, for a change, it was the other guy that made to deal with a major personnel loss.
Syracuse's Elijah Hughes, who came into the game ranked second in the ACC in scoring at 19.4 points per game, played only three minutes before leaving the game with an undisclosed injury.
"He got hurt in the warmups and we didn't know until he started that he couldn't go," Orange coach Jim Boeheim said afterward. "Things like that happen, but it's unusual. I've never had a player in 44 years get hurt in the warmups, but there's a first time for everything I guess."
Although freshman point guard Joseph Girard helped compensate by scoring 30 points and Hughes' replacement, freshman forward Quincy Guerrier added career-high 16 points -- 10 above his season average -- not having to deal with Hughes eased State's defensive responsibility considerably.
Did make a difference? Maybe it did, maybe not. But when all was said and done, Syracuse made just 3 of its 18 3-point attempts, with Girard missing all but one of his 10 long range shots.
Syracuse looked especially lost offensively down the stretch, allowing the Wolfpack to turn a 68-62 deficit into a five-point victory by outscoring the Orange 17-6 over the final 6 1/2 minutes.
◼ While State's offense wasn't always as fluid as coach Kevin Keatts would have liked against Syracuse's 2-3 zone, it made up for it by posting its second straight hot shooting performance from 3-point range.
The Wolfpack went 11 for 25 from beyond the arc -- including 5 of 11 in the second half. It was the first double-figure 3-point total since the team combined for 13 against UNC Greensboro all the way back on Dec. 15.
"We knew we had to make threes," Keatts said. "I thought maybe coming in that eight to nine would do it, but certainly I'll take 11. I thought we did a good job of moving it around, finding some gaps. They put you in a tough spot because they only give you certain shots and you have to make those certain shots."
Bryce, now fully recovered from his slump that saw him go two straight games without a point, led the way by going 4 of 6 from distance. Daniels and point guard Markell Johnson were both 2 of 6 while Jericole Hellems, Braxton Beverly and Pat Andree had one each.
As the old saying goes, everything looks better when the ball is going in the basket. And it sure looked good for State at the Dome.
◼ Just as it did against Virginia on Jan. 20 and at Miami last Wednesday, the Wolfpack showed the kind of late game resiliency it's going to take to finish out the season strong and end up on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble.
Down by six with both D.J. Funderburk and Manny Bates saddled with four fouls, State appeared to be running out of gas until Daniels suddenly breathed life back into his team by scoring seven unanswered points to put State back in the lead.
The burst of energy proved to be as uplifting to State as it was deflating for the Orange, because neither team was the same from that point on.
State allowed just one more field goal the rest of the way, forced three turnovers and got 3-point daggers from Bryce and Johnson to create the separation it needed to put the game away.
"We found a way," Keatts said. "We had some adversity. Our post guys were in tremendous foul trouble, things weren't going our way. Girard got a hot hand and was playing well, but I thought our guys stayed down and stayed composed, got a lot of rebounds at the end and made some plays at the end. I thought that was the difference in the game. ... I thought we closed the game the way you want a team to close a game."
◼ As important as the way State finished the game was, the way it played in the final few minutes of the first half should not be overlooked, either.
After wasting an early eight-point lead and giving the Carrier Dome crowd a reason to get back into the game, the Wolfpack trailed 33-29 -- primarily because of its inability to keep Syracuse off the offensive glass.
But Jericole Hellems hit a jumper from the dead spot in the Orange zone before connecting on a 3-pointer to spark a closing 10-2 run that gave State back the lead and momentum heading into halftime.
◼ Daniels couldn't have picked a better to time to have his best game as a member of the Wolfpack.
It came on a night in which Markell Johnson was held out of the starting lineup for showing up late for a team meeting over the weekend. Johnson ended up playing 32 minutes, finishing with eight points on 3 of 7 shooting with eight assists, four steals and four turnovers.
But it was Daniels that did the best job of attacking the basket, creating offense with defense and scoring in transition.
He finished with 23 points on 8 of 15 shooting. He also had three steals. His 23 points tied the most he's scored in his two seasons at State and fell one short of his career high, set while still playing for Utah in 2017. He would have surpassed that total had not gone 2 of 6 from the line over the final minute.
Markell Johnson with the 40-foot one-handed bounce pass - that’s how you beat the zone down the floor, kids! pic.twitter.com/G9LgP1KyIP
— Three Man Weave (@3MW_CBB) February 12, 2020
◼ If there was one major negative to an otherwise winning effort, it was on the glass, where the Wolfpack was outrebounded 37-32. The disparity was even greater on the offensive end, where Syracuse pulled down 14 rebounds, compared to only five for State.
The Wolfpack compensated for its problems on the backboards by turning up the heat with its defense. Not only did it force the Orange into 15 turnovers, it turned those mistakes in to 23 points -- many of them in transition.
In all, State scored 21 fastbreak points, effectively neutralizing Syracuse's zone by getting downcourt and putting the ball in the basket before the defense could get set.
"That's what I'm looking for," Keatts said. "I knew that in order to have success, you have to get out in transition against these guys. We forced some of their key players to have some turnovers."
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