NC State men break away from Syracuse. Observations from the ACC win

Darrion Williams ran toward the N.C. State pep band and courtside fans midway through the second half, waving his arms to pump up the crowd, after Syracuse called timeout.

N.C. State men’s basketball has found success on the road in ACC play, picking up four wins away from Raleigh. Home has been a little less kind.

Behind Williams’ leadership, the Wolfpack adjusted course and picked up an 88-68 win over Syracuse on Tuesday night for its first home victory of 2026 and the Orange’s (12-9, 3-5 ACC) fourth straight loss.

The Wolfpack (15-6, 6-2) is off to its best start in ACC play since 2005-06, when it started 8-2.

“We should be 7-1, not 6-2. I mean, I guess it’s good. I guess that’s something you guys can write about, but I’m not very pleased with where we are,” N.C. State coach Will Wade said. “I think we should be better than we are. 6-2 beats 5-3, but the Georgia Tech game just still makes me pretty upset.”

Williams got the offense started for the Wolfpack from tipoff. Ven-Allen Lubin controlled the tip and knocked the ball to an open Williams. The senior scored the easy layup to put N.C. State on the board. The team used that momentum and took a quick 10-2 lead.

Williams made three shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, before missing a shot and reached double figures 11 minutes into play.

By halftime, Williams had scored 12 points to lead the Wolfpack. He finished with 23 points, six rebounds and five assists.

“I had a phone call with a family friend yesterday, and they just told me I was playing really soft this whole season,” Williams said. “I just tried to play harder and be more physical with other guys without letting guys bump me off my spot.”

Williams’ impact extended beyond his scoring, rebounding or ball distribution.

The senior showed leadership as a floor general, directing his teammates on where to go. Williams, for example, told freshman Matt Able to move to the opposite corner, while he dribbled along the baseline — under pressure — and found Musa Sagnia for an easy layup.

N.C. State ended the game with four players in double figures. Quadir Copeland contributed 19 points and nine assists.

Lubin had 18 points, 12 in the second half, on a perfect 8 of 8 shooting. He entered the game leading the ACC in field goal percentage , a number that will rise after his performance.

Syracuse forward Donnie Freeman entered the game on a hot streak and he lived up to the billing as the Orange’s top scorer.

N.C. State’s defense couldn’t contain Freeman, who scored 16 first-half points on 6 of 12 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds. He ended the game with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

Freeman entered the game as the Orange’s leading scorer, racking up 18.7 points per game in 11 appearances. In his last six games, he averaged 22.5 points per game. The forward has now scored double figures in every game played and recorded at least 20 points in six games.

JJ Starling, one of Copeland’s former Syracuse teammates, finished with 17 points.

Defense comes alive

Syracuse remained within arm’s reach for roughly three quarters of the game, never fully allowing N.C. State to break things open.

The Wolfpack defense, however, increased its intensity down the stretch. It forced four consecutive missed shots in the span of a minute and a half. In the span of roughly five minutes, Syracuse missed six straight shots.

Syracuse started the game knocking down 5 of 12 (41.7%) shots from 3-point range, which allowed the visitors to stay close.

In the second half, N.C. State held the Orange to 2 for 11 (18.2%) from 3-point distance.

That allowed N.C. State’s offense to get into transition and break the game open. After leading by no more than single digits early in the second half, the Wolfpack’s aggressive effort — both in the press and half court — allowed N.C. State to take a 20-point lead.

Additionally, the Wolfpack won the rebounding battle after trailing by two at halftime. It outrebounded the Orange 29-15 after the break and finished with a 45-33 margin. Of its 45 rebounds, 30 were on the defensive end. The team is now 11-0 when winning the battle on the glass.

“[Wade] yelled at us at halftime to get us back going,” Copeland said. “He got on our butts. That’s what wee needed; that push or we’ll continue to play lazy. That push got us back on track.”

The Moose is loose

From the beginning of the season, Sagnia has been one of the Wolfpack’s underrated contributors and expected X-factors. He played a key role for N.C. State, on both ends of the floor, for his best performance of the season.

Sagnia scored a career-high 10 points. The rookie’s shots most often came after Williams or Copeland, under double or triple teams, dumped the ball to him for an open layup.

The forward added three offensive rebounds. He remains one of N.C. State’s best bodies off the offensive glass.

“He’s just getting more confident, more comfortable,” Williams said. “He’s in there every day with Coach [Adam] Howard, putting work in. We worked out together this morning. He’s constantly in the gym, and I think as his confidence grows, it’ll help us out a lot as a team.”

When Sagnia was not scoring or rebounding, he provided a major boost as a defensive disruptor and offensive threat. His minutes allowed Lubin to rest, something the senior hasn’t always gotten to do this year.

“Our metrics say we’ve got to play him more, and so we’ve been trying to do that,” Wade said.

Pack cleans up turnovers

N.C. State knows rebounding is not its strength, so the team typically makes up for that by taking care of the ball and forcing steals.

“We value the ball for the most part, and we don’t give up possession,” Wade said this week during the ACC coaches call. “This is what you have to do if you’re not a great rebounding team, which we’re not on the offensive glass, and we weren’t on the defensive glass at Pittsburgh. That’s the only way we can continue to get shots and continue to give ourselves a chance offensively, to not turn it over. I do think that’s been very helpful for us.”

The Wolfpack, however, did not play up to its standard in that respect against the Orange. N.C. State committed six first-half turnovers — five were steals — which Syracuse turned into six points.

The second half featured far fewer miscues and tougher ball handling from the Wolfpack, who finished with 11 turnovers.

N.C. State, however, snapped its streak of five straight games with 10 turnovers or fewer.

This story was originally published January 27, 2026 at 9:09 PM.