Syracuse (17-8, 8-4 Atlantic Coast) struggled to get past North Carolina State’s (18-7, 6-6) defense and let its early halftime deficit widen into a larger loss. The Orange went 5-of-25 from beyond the arc with its five 3-pointers coming from Frank Howard, the only star of the game. The senior point guard had 21 points in 28 minutes while Tyus Battle and Oshae Brissett combined for nine points in the loss.

Here’s what our beat writer had to say about Wednesday’s game.