RALEIGH — The NC State Wolfpack dominated the Syracuse Orange Tuesday night at Lenovo Center, winning 88-68 in a cathartic win in Raleigh.
On top of being just the second conference home win for NC State, the win also snapped a two-game skid at Lenovo Center as well.
“We owed it to our fans,” said NC State coach Will Wade. “These guys pay a lot of money to park, tickets, seats, all that sort of stuff and we’ve been terrible at home. So we owed it to them to at least play with some effort and play well for these folks.”
The Wolfpack were hot right from the get go, hitting three of their first four shots, and although the Orange managed to keep it close through the first half — NC State led by just four points after 20 minutes — the home team was just too much to handle in the end.
“Just being more solid on defense,” said senior Darrion Williams on the second-half adjustments. “I think they were playing a lot of one-on-one, so we really had to sit down and guard and know who we can and can’t help off of. That and rebound.”
NC State dominated off the glass in the second half, edging out Syracuse 29-15 after managing just 16 boards in the first half.
“[Coach] yelled at us at halftime to get us back going, but that’s what we needed,” said senior Quadir Copeland. “That push.”
It was an important game for Copeland, who was going against his former team in the Orange for the first time since his departure, and he certainly showed up with 19 points, nine assists and four steals.
“The plan was to go in there and win,” Copeland said. “My teammates helped me in every way possible. They knew how important this game was to me, they knew the things behind it, so this whole week they’ve just been letting me know that they’ve got my back and today it showed.”
Copeland has struggled to control his emotions in the past (he’s collected three techs this year alone) and this game meant a lot to him, as he called it “personal” heading in, but he looked very much in control throughout the game.
“I didn’t let this game get to my head,” Copeland said. “All the stuff I’ve been working on, my maturity, trying to let things go, just being a better person so I can be a better basketball player, I think it all showed up today in this moment. I didn’t let the emotions get to me.”
“He was better than expected,” Wade said. “He was good. Stayed under emotional control, for the most part. Did a great job. I’m very proud of him.”
Williams also continued his midseason resurgence with 23 points, six rebounds and five assists in the win.
In fact, it was the first time Williams has scored in the double digits at Lenovo Center since November.
“Felt good to finally make some shots in here again,” Williams said.
Williams has gone through a few dry spells this season, but he’s been impactful in helping the team win in other ways even when his shot wasn’t falling. And although he was good with his shot tonight, going 5 for 9 from deep, the physicality he brought showed another edge to his game that had sort of been lacking.
“I had a phone call with a family friend yesterday and they just told me I was playing really soft this whole season, so I just tried to play harder and be more physical on other guys instead of letting them bump me off my spot,” Williams said.
“The 3s are the 3s,” Wade said. “He makes them somedays, somedays he doesn’t. But I thought his finishing was better. He was way more physical around the basket.
In addition to Copeland and Williams, Ven-Allen Lubin had a big night, going a perfect 8 for 8 from the field for 18 points along with nine rebounds, Musa Sagnia had a career high in points (10), Matt Able had a career high in rebounds (7) and Terrance Arceneaux also contributed with seven boards himself.
The Wolfpack’s 6-2 record is also the school’s best ACC start in 20 years, last matched in 2005-06, but Wade isn’t really satisfied with where the process is overall.
“We should be 7-1,” Wade said. “I’m not very pleased with 6-2. I guess it’s good and something you can write about, but I’m not very pleased with where we are. I think we should be better than we are. But I guess 6-2 beats 5-3. But I strive for better than that.”
NC State will have a chance to continue to showcase their improvements on Saturday when they travel up I-40 for a matchup with Wake Forest.
