Syracuse falls to N.C. State, 71-57, day after NCAA drops sanctions on Boeheim, men’s basketball program
Frankie Prijatel | Photo Editor
Jim Boeheim and Syracuse knew their season was coming to an end, and it finished with a 71-57 loss at North Carolina State just a day after the NCAA levied heavy penalties on the men's basketball program.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Once the clock hit double zeroes on the game and Syracuse’s season, Jim Boeheim shook North Carolina State’s hands, then turned and began his long walk to the SU locker room and all else that awaited him.
The Wolfpack walked off the court with an Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, and possibly an NCAA Tournament, in its immediate future.
Syracuse’s players walked off with nothing in theirs.
Twenty-four hours after the announcement that shook the SU community, the 2014-15 Orange played basketball for one final meaningless time. Rakeem Christmas rounded out his Syracuse career and memorable senior campaign with an uninspiring effort, scoring just six points on 1-of-8 shooting before salvaging his last SU double-double in the second half.
And when the buzzer rang on Syracuse’s (18-13, 9-9 ACC) 71-57 loss to North Carolina State (19-12, 10-8) on Saturday afternoon at PNC Arena, it signified the end of an SU season that went nowhere.
The game ran a similar path to SU’s season. An even and competitive start inevitably gave way to disaster. SU held a first-half lead as wide as eight points and as late as 26 seconds before halftime.
But Christmas missed his first seven shots from the floor Saturday and bore little resemblance to the Wooden Award Finalist he was announced to be before the game. Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije both air-balled jumpers in the first half, adding to the gloom that hung over their heads.
On the other end, the Wolfpack ate up Syracuse’s defense for a 27-2 run that carried over past halftime and charged up its PNC Arena audience with a flurry of 3s that buried the little hope SU had of ending its year victoriously.
Boeheim, as subdued as he’s been all season, sat and watched for most of it.
The meeting with N.C. State on Saturday was the only time and place the Orange could alleviate some of the sting from the nation-wide criticism SU’s drawn in the previous 24 hours and the punishments that fueled them.
And the Orange accomplished no such thing.
Published on March 7, 2015 at 2:07 pm
Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb
