By Lizzy Gomez
Raleigh, N.C. — Sunny, 45 degrees, and not a cloud in the sky — The weather outside PNC Arena on Saturday beamed with cheerful anticipation of the end of winter on the eve of daylight savings time.
But inside, the Syracuse men’s basketball locker room housed a much more somber atmosphere after the Orange fell to North Carolina State by a final score of 71-57 in its season finale.
After the game, the body language said more than the players.
Rakeem Christmas and Trevor Cooney both looked worn down while fielding questions from reporters, their eyes often drifting down to the floor while shrugging their shoulders — Especially when it came to questions regarding the NCAA sanctions handed down to the program just a day earlier.
“They made a decision and it is what it is,” Cooney said. “You just move forward.”
The team moves forward with the loss of 12 scholarships over four years, 108 vacated wins, and a suspension of Coach Jim Boeheim for the first nine ACC games of the 2015-2016 season.
Cooney said he hasn’t read the full 94-page report from the NCAA, which gives a complete summary of the violations and penalties involved in the investigation.
“I won’t really look into it,” Cooney said. “I’ll read it, but there’s no point in going in and reading in-depth or anything like that.”
When asked by a reporter if the announcement by the NCAA influenced the team’s emotions heading into its game against the Wolfpack, Christmas quickly shook his head and said, “No.”
And that was about all anyone in Orange had to say about the matter, including Head Coach Jim Boeheim, who declined to speak to the media after his team’s final game of the season.
Hopkins Steps in for Boeheim
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With the head coach suspended for nine conference games next year, SU Assistant Coach Mike Hopkins gave an early glimpse at life without Boeheim after Saturday’s game, replacing the now sixth winningest collegiate basketball coach in history during the postgame news conference.
Hopkins prefaced his thoughts by saying Boeheim decided to stay silent because he, “doesn’t want to say, ‘no comment,’” in regard to questions involving the NCAA investigation and sanctions.
Instead, Hopkins said it for him.
“I don’t want to answer anything in regard to the stuff yesterday,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins did open up when asked about senior Rakeem Christmas playing in his last game as a part of the Orange, though.
“Rak[eem] is a special kid,” said Hopkins as his voice grew shaky and tears began to form in his eyes. “You get a guy who’s done everything you want him to do, and when it comes to a conclusion...it’s not easy. It’s hard to see a kid like that leave.”
Hopkins said Christmas played as well as any other player in the country while carrying his team throughout the season on both offense and defense.
Last Christmas for Syracuse
The 6’9” senior earned his 12th double-double of the season against NC State with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Christmas shot 5-of-16 from the field, but went a perfect 5-for-5 from the line with 5 blocks during his final 39 minutes of play for the Orange.
“You saw tonight, Rak missed some shots he usually makes around the basket,” Hopkins said. “But he’s been a warrior. He’s been that 40-minute guy every night. He’s rebounding, he’s brought it and he’s been a great leader.”
Coach Boeheim took Christmas out of the game as Syracuse trailed NC State by 18 points with 1:22 left in the game.
With the self-imposed postseason ban keeping the Orange out of the ACC and NCAA tournaments this year, Christmas’ collegiate career ends a little earlier than expected.
“Stuff happens for a reason,” Christmas said. “I’m not disappointed at all. You’ve just got to keep a positive mind and focus on the future.”
Christmas averaged 17.6 points and 9 rebounds per game this season and leaves Syracuse with more than 1,000 career points to his name.
On Saturday night in Raleigh, Christmas nearly tied Tyler Roberson as the night’s leading scorer for SU, missing the mark by one point.
Double-Double For Roberson
Roberson also ended the afternoon with a double-double, putting up 16 points and grabbing 12 rebounds against the Wolfpack.
The 6’8” sophomore made 6-of-14 attempts from the field and went 4-for-5 from the line along with 2 steals.
Michael Gbinije scored 10 points for the Orange, while Trevor Cooney ended the season with an 8-point performance, shooting 1-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Kaleb Joseph and walk-on Carter Sanderson both accounted for 3 points, while Ron Patterson failed to make a field goal during the final game of the season, scoring his only two points from the foul line.
Orange Struggles on Offense, Wolfpack Dominates Second Half
Patterson wasn’t the only SU player to struggle finding a field goal.
Christmas didn’t find the hoop from the field until 15 minutes into the first half.
As a team, the Orange shot 32 percent from the field and 25 percent from the three-point line.
“We just didn’t make any shots,” Hopkins said. “It’s been one of the main reasons why we’ve lost some close games this year, based on shooting the basketball.”
Syracuse scored 13 second-chance points and took advantage of NC State turnovers for 6 points, but the Wolfpack nearly tripled that number, finding 17 points off SU turnovers.
The score remained close during the early parts of the first half, but NCSU began to find its rhythm before halftime.
The Orange led by eight points with 4:18 left in the first 20 minutes of play, but NC State came back within one point after a foul on B.J. Johnson resulted in two made foul shots for the Wolfpack.
With 26 seconds left in the half, Abdul-Malik Abu made a layup in the paint, putting NC State ahead of Syracuse, 26-25, going into the break.
In the second half, the Wolfpack continued to play well, going up by11 at the 15:49 mark.
The Orange trailed by more than ten points for much of the remainder of the game, until a foul on Trevor Lacey put Ron Patterson on the line for two shots with 5:11 on the clock.
Patterson connected on both shots, his only two points of the game, to put Syracuse within nine.
After a dunk by Lennard Freeman for the Wolfpack and a jumper by Gbinije for the Orange, SU still trailed by nine with 4:19 left in the game.
But that would be as close as Syracuse would get to making it interesting.
By the 1:57 mark, NCSU led the Orange by 20 points.
The Wolfpack ended the afternoon with a 71-57 victory over Syracuse, and ended the SU season by handing Boeheim and his team its third loss in a row.
“Our kids have really worked hard, through a lot of adversity,” Hopkins said. “We overachieve. We’re not used to losing 13 games. I know our guys will be in the gym, trying to get better every day, learn from this season, and move forward. That’s all you can do.”
The Orange completed the 2014-2015 season with a 18-13 overall record, and a 9-9 record in the ACC.
Coach Hopkins Post-Game Conference:
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