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RALEIGH, N.C. — If there’s anything that has defined Syracuse men’s basketball this season, it has been consistent inconsistency.

A major upset win over a top 10 team was followed up by a defeat on the road against one of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s worst teams. A loss that preceded the dismissal of the team’s longest-tenured player was followed up by a win where it scores 94 points.

But ignoring all of the inconsistency and overall storylines for the season, Quadir Copeland just needed to breathe with 13 seconds remaining. His had a chance to salvage a victory at the foul line after another blown lead. As the NC State crowd screamed at him, he buried both shots from the charity stripe to give the Orange an 85-83 lead.

The Orange walked off the floor Saturday in defeat after only scoring 60 points against Georgia Tech. But in the first half alone Tuesday, Syracuse (17-10, 8-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) was five points off that mark, with Bell nailing eight 3-pointers. NC State (16-10, 8-7 ACC) stormed back, courtesy of DJ Horne’s 32 points, but SU held the Wolfpack off for just long enough in an 87-83 victory with Copeland also scoring a career-high 25 points.

While Horne finished with the most points in the affair, Bell was lights out from 3, making his first eight in a row. Before the game, Bell and Copeland talked about how many 3-pointers the forward would take.

“He said he would shoot 14 3s,” Copeland remarked during Bell’s postgame comments, causing the forward to smile. “He lied!”

After SU shot 4-for-25 from beyond the arc against Georgia Tech, Bell flourished from long range versus the Wolfpack. Through the first five-and-a-half minutes, Bell scored 12 of SU’s 14 points, all of them coming on corner 3s.

Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said he was pleased with SU’s shot selection throughout the night. But during the game, he didn’t know what was to come for the rest of the half.

Bell buried his fourth 3-pointer in just over three minutes. He switched it up on his fifth attempt by going to the top of the key, where he drilled his fifth 3 of the night.

His hot shooting radiated on the rest of the Orange as the first half progressed. From the 16:00 mark of the first half until the 6:00 mark, Syracuse went 11-for-11 from the field. The run was highlighted by another 3-pointer from Bell, this time from the right wing, and a behind-the-back dunk by Copeland.

Even after Kyle Cuffe Jr. ended the streak with a miss from the corner, Bell went back to his hot spot. From the right corner, he hit back-to-back step-back 3s. Through 20 minutes, Bell was one 3-pointer short of tying the Syracuse program record. On the seventh make of the half, Bell showed a burst of emotion while Autry just turned around seemingly in disbelief.

“Chris Bell was unconscious,” Autry said. “He kept us in the game in the first half.”

In the second half, Bell went quiet.

He faced much more pressure from Wolfpack defenders like Casey Morsell. As NC State cut the lead down to 10, the rotating Bell tried a contested 3 but bricked the shot. With the Wolfpack playing more of a full-court press, SU’s ball-handlers drove to the hoop instead of kicking it out to Bell.

Autry said he and his team knew the Wolfpack would start guarding Bell harder. He became an off-ball forward in the second half.

For Bell, moving around while not having the basketball was simple. When a teammate drove to the corner, Bell sank to the corner. If a teammate with the ball was on the same side of the court as Bell, he fell behind to give the option of a long-range shot.

“They were just face guarding me in the corner,” Bell said. “So (it was about) letting our guards work. Just trying to create a space when they lead and just be ready to shoot.”

As Bell barely got the ball, Horne, who scored 21 points in the first half, continued to thrive in the second. Horne went 11-of-20 during the night, nailing floaters and 3s. Middlebrooks was also proficient, scoring 12 points and providing second chances with 10 rebounds.

Syracuse tried to keep the Wolfpack at a distance, with J.J. Starling hitting a long-range jumper midway through the half and Copeland following that up with a reverse layup. But Horne responded with a crossover, step-back 3-pointer to cut the deficit to just three points.

Horne broke the 30-point threshold on an and-one as he made it a two-point contest. After Bell lost a pass on a turnover, Burns Jr. tied the game on a layup. And with the Wolfpack in the double bonus with 3:14 to go, Middlebrooks gave the Wolfpack their first lead since the first 43 seconds of the game off two free throws. Even as Mintz hit a layup for the lead, Middlebrooks tied the game from the line again.

But Syracuse still pulled away with a win. After Starling couldn’t make back-to-back layup attempts, Copeland made both of his free throws. Then, Mintz buried two more free throws after Horne failed to draw a foul on a 3-point shot.

Copeland looked like he didn’t want to foul Horne in the corner, and he said the Orange defense switched in the best possible way in the closing moments for another close victory.

“When we lose, our fans (say) it’s over, everything is over,” Autry joked. “With this team right here, they don’t buy into that. They come back and battle.”

Published on February 20, 2024 at 9:56 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com