Syracuse basketball should be able to feast on awful N.C. State defense

Syracuse basketball shot lights-out over the weekend in pasting Wake Forest at home, and now the Orange is set to hopefully do the same on the road versus N.C. State on Wednesday night.

Without question, the ‘Cuse has had its shares of struggles on defense throughout the 2021-22 campaign. However, in an encouraging sign, the Orange zone was solid against the Demon Deacons, a group that has a high-octane offense.

When Syracuse basketball (10-11, 4-6) crushed Wake Forest, 94-72, on Saturday evening in Central New York, the ‘Cuse held the Demon Deacons to about eight points below their scoring average in 2021-22. What’s more, the Orange limited Wake Forest to just 30 points in the second half.

That’s important to note, because if Syracuse basketball can put forth that kind of defensive effort versus the Wolfpack, the ‘Cuse will have an exquisite opportunity to secure a success in Raleigh, N.C., on Wednesday.

Let’s take a deeper look at the next foe for Syracuse basketball.

N.C. State (10-12, 3-8) is having a pretty rough go to date in 2021-22. The Wolfpack has dropped two in a row, both on the road, to Notre Dame and in-state rival North Carolina.

The Tar Heels, by the way, generated 100 points in beating the Wolfpack by 20 points this past Saturday.

In taking a look at N.C. State’s schedule so far in 2021-22, it’s a bit of a mess. The Wolfpack has defeated the likes of Colgate, Bucknell, Nebraska, Virginia, Virginia Tech on the road, and Louisville on the road, among others.

We should also note here that N.C. State took then-No. 1 Purdue to overtime. Conversely, the Wolfpack has a handful of really bad setbacks.

Per ESPN data, N.C. State is scoring 75.0 points per contest but allowing 74.9 points. At the time of this writing, the Wolfpack and Syracuse basketball were the worst two squads in the Atlantic Coast Conference as it pertains to points given up a game.

N.C. State, heading into its affair with the ‘Cuse, was allowing its opponents to shoot about 46 percent from the field as a whole, which was last in the conference, as well as 36 percent from beyond the arc, which was second from the bottom in the ACC.

In short, if the Orange offense is firing on all cylinders against the Wolfpack as the ‘Cuse did versus Wake Forest, Syracuse basketball should be able to produce a ton of points on Wednesday.

We’ll have to see, though, how the Orange zone is performing. Additionally, Syracuse basketball is only 1-5 on the road at this juncture in 2021-22.

The ‘Cuse went 3-0 against N.C. State a season ago. I think that the Orange has received an injection of confidence and momentum with its triumph over the Demon Deacons, and my fingers are crossed that this positive mojo will carry onward when Syracuse basketball pays the Wolfpack a visit.