The Syracuse basketball squad will do battle with one of the ACC’s top-scoring teams when it travels to N.C. State on Wednesday.
It’s go-time for the ‘Cuse, as our beloved boys in Orange are gearing up for a rough stretch to close out Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season competition in the 2018-19 campaign.
Beginning with a duel at N.C. State on Wednesday evening, SU (17-7, 8-3) will take on four foes currently in the AP top-25 poll in its final seven affairs prior to the ACC Tournament kicking off. Of those seven match-ups, four of them are also away from the Carrier Dome. Given Syracuse’s impressive 5-1 road mark to date, perhaps that’s not entirely a bad thing.
The Wolfpack (17-7, 5-6), meanwhile, is 12-3 on its own turf in the 2018-19 stanza. I can’t stress enough the importance of this encounter for both schools, as each one is hovering around the Big Dance’s bubble. For example, on the Bracket Matrix Web site, the ‘Cuse is projected as a No. 9 seed in the field of 68, while N.C. State is slotted as a No. 10 seed.
They have identical overall records. The Wolfpack got the Orange by three games in the non-conference slate. On the flip side, SU is better by a trio of contests in league play. Now, another facet that’s critical to note here is that N.C. State checks in at No. 35 in the NCAA NET ratings. Syracuse is No. 48, and thus a triumph against the Wolfpack at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., would certainly bolster its March Madness resume.
In all honesty, though, this is a really tricky one for the ‘Cuse. N.C. State possesses a high-powered offense, averaging about 82 points a game. And the Wolfpack spreads its production around with efficiency, as six guys on the roster generate a minimum of eight points every 40 minutes.
Such balance, I fear, will put a lot of pressure on the Orange’s 2-3 zone, as will the fact that N.C. State connects on 37 percent from downtown. A pair of additional nerve-wracking details about the Wolfpack is that it excels at offensive rebounding, whereas SU is relatively poor on the defensive glass and N.C. State forces opponents to commit about 17 turnovers per contest. Yikes.
An area that Syracuse must exploit is at the free-throw line because the Wolfpack doesn’t make it to the charity stripe nearly as much as its rivals. The ‘Cuse can’t settle for too many attempts from beyond the arc. Senior point guard Frank Howard, junior wing Tyus Battle, sophomore forward Oshae Brissett and redshirt sophomore forward Elijah Hughes have to act with aggression in driving to the hoop.
In their series together, the Orange holds a 7-4 edge, but N.C. State prevailed on the Hill a year ago. On Wednesday night, I’m hopeful that SU will return the favor.