Syracuse (19-10, 9-7 Atlantic Coast) beat North Carolina State (14-15, 4-12), 75-66, on Saturday in the Carrier Dome. The Orange led throughout nearly the entire game and secured its lead despite several Wolfpack runs. Senior Michael Gbinije racked up a career-high 34 points in his final regular season home game and set a career-high with eight 3s.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Goodbye to the Dome

Gbinije said goodbye to the Carrier Dome in grand fashion. After being honored before the game and raising his commemorative framed jersey to the crowd, he finished with a career-high 34 points and shot 8-for-13 from 3, beating his career-high of six, which he set earlier this season against Charlotte.

With just a one-point lead midway through the first half, Gbinije canned a 3 from the right wing to put the Orange up by four. He held his follow through and launched an imaginary bow toward the crowd behind the basket. Gbinije later laid in the basket to give Syracuse a 14-point lead and forced Wolfpack head coach Mark Gottfried to call a timeout.

When Syracuse needed to squelch N.C. State’s runs, it was Gbinije who seemingly always came through. His 3 with just under five minutes remaining sent the Carrier Dome crowd into a frenzy, gave Syracuse a 64-56 lead and put his stamp on a game that he owned. Then he proceeded to hit another one and set a new career high in points.

Roberson remains quiet

A week after head coach Jim Boeheim said if he had any other players, Tyler Roberson wouldn’t play, the junior forward responded with just four points and three rebounds in 14 minutes. Boeheim stayed true to that sentiment on Saturday. The ACC’s leader in offensive rebounds spent most of his time on the bench, sandwiched in between assistant coaches Adrian Autry and Mike Hopkins.

Tyler Lydon played 32 minutes and Dajuan Coleman played a season-high 35 in SU’s frontcourt. The Orange lost the rebounding battle by a slim 38-36 margin against a stout Wolfpack front line that includes BeeJay Anya and Abdul-Malik Abu.

Caging the ‘Cat’

Anthony ‘Cat’ Barber came into Saturday leading the ACC in scoring with 23.5 points per game but the Orange’s zone held him to just 15.

Three minutes into the game, Barber passed down low with two seconds on the shot clock and N.C. State didn’t get a shot off in time. Five minutes later, his jump shot was blocked by Dajuan Coleman. Late in the first half with the Wolfpack down by five, Barber dribbled inside the arc and pulled up, but Frank Howard’s hand was just inches from his face and the shot fell short bouncing off the front of the rim.

In the second half, Barber sat on the bench for six minutes. He averaged 38.6 minutes per game, but as Syracuse solidified its double-digit lead, Barber didn’t play as much. After Barber came back in with 9:43 left in the game, he couldn’t crack SU’s defense as N.C. State fell one big run short of a comeback.

Published on February 27, 2016 at 4:12 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds