ACC Basketball Tournament: NC State and Syracuse survive to quarters

ACC Basketball: NC State, Syracuse survive, Va Tech and Louisville cruise in 2nd round

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 13: Markell Johnson #11 of the NC State Wolfpack reacts after a play against the Clemson Tigers during their game in the second round of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 13, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images /

1. Syracuse survives against Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Panthers led early against the Syracuse Orange but in the end, the Orange got a 73-59 victory. In the first half, Jared Wilson-Frame had half of Pittsburgh’s points with 18 on 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point land as they held a 36-30 lead.

In the second half, the Orange flipped the switch on offense though and jumped out to a 57-46 lead with 9:54 left in the game. They never looked back after that as they pulled out the victory.

Syracuse made quite the adjustments on the offensive end in the first half in their first game ever without Tyus Battle. They shot 6-of-11 from 3-point range in the second half as a team as Buddy Boeheim exploded for 15 of his 20 points. Elijah Hughes led the way for Syracuse with five made 3-pointers on 18 points.

It was a sluggish start for the Orange given their best offensive player was out, but they found their balance as time progressed against the Panthers. They’ll need to show more of that as another game looms with the Duke Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals.