The Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament saw a strong performance from Jayden Taylor of North Carolina State, who scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds en route to an 83-65 victory over Syracuse on Wednesday night.

On Thursday, the tenth-ranked N.C. State (19-14) will compete against Duke (24-7), the second-seeded team, in a quarterfinal match. N.C. State, who had previously been defeated in both regular-season games by Syracuse, was able to seek revenge.

Syracuse started the second half strong, scoring 7 points while their opponents, N.C. State, scored 2, giving them a 39-37 lead. However, N.C. State responded with a dominant 21-4 streak, taking a commanding 58-43 lead with 12:33 left in the game. DJ Horne contributed 11 points during this run, ending it with a powerful dunk. Taylor also contributed with two successful 3-point shots. Despite a valiant effort, Syracuse was unable to catch up and finished with a final score of 60-50.

The Wolfpack earned a total of 30 points from forcing 19 turnovers by Syracuse.

Horne, the top point scorer for N.C. State, accumulated 16 points solely during the second half. The senior, standing at 6 feet and 1 inch, suffered a hip injury during the team’s final regular-season game against Pittsburgh. As a result, he did not participate in the Wolfpack’s first-round victory over Louisville in the tournament.

Michael O’Connell contributed 16 points, while DJ Burns Jr. earned 15 points for the Wolfpack. Mohamed Diarra also added eight points and tallied 14 rebounds and six assists.

No. 7 seed Syracuse (20-12) was led by Judah Mintz, who scored 21 points. Additionally, Maliq Brown, Chris Bell, and Quadir Copeland each contributed 11 points.

During the first half, Taylor earned 10 points while O’Connell and Burns together contributed 17 points, allowing N.C. State to take a 35-32 lead at halftime. Mintz was the leading scorer for the Orange with 11 points in the first half.

Syracuse won against N.C. State twice, with a score of 77-65 at home and 87-83 on the road. The team ended the regular season strong, with four wins in their last five games.

Source: wralsportsfan.com