NC State Wolfpack vs. Syracuse Orange Time; 7PM TV: ESPNU
NC State returns home to Raleigh tonight for an ACC matchup against Syracuse, tipping off at 7 PM on ESPNU from the Lenovo Center.
The Wolfpack (14-6, 5-2 ACC) are looking to gain even more momentum after having already matched last season’s conference win total with their overtime win at Clemson and a home victory over Pitt, NC State boasts one of the ACC’s top offenses, averaging 85.3 points per game and leading the league in 3-point percentage (39% in conference play).
Team Trends
NC State has won 4 of its last 5, but all of those games were on the road. For some reason, the Pack has struggled at home in ACC play, losing its last two home games (UVA & GT). They did beat Wake at home, but that wasn’t all that pretty either. They will need to find their tenacity at home if they want to take down a struggling but talented Syracuse team.
Syracuse (12-8, 3-4 ACC) enters on a three-game losing streak, dropping under .500 in ACC play after a solid early start. The Orange have struggled defensively in recent outings, allowing opponents to heat up from deep (and this is where NC State excels), and they’re hungry for a Quad 1 road win to snap the skid.
Keys to the Game
NC State needs two things. One of them we’ve been harping on all season, the other is game-specific.
Let’s start with what NC State needs on offense. They desperately need Darrion Williams to play more efficiently on the offensive side of the ball. They finally have his usage rate where they want it (25-30%), but he’s not converting inside the arc. He’s shooting just 30% from 2pt range in ACC play.
He’s doing everything else as expected (for the most part), but they need him to be a factor scoring on the block. That means more physicality and playing through more contact. Honestly, it seems like Williams is scared to get hurt. Now, maybe it’s because his shoulder still bothers him, I don’t know, but that’s just the feeling I get when I watch him play in the paint.
If Williams starts clicking, NC State becomes a whole different beast. Suddenly, they have multiple post scoring options, to go along with their elite 3pt shooting and Copeland’s ability to create off the bounce. That would be the team Wade was expecting, and what had him confident about rolling out the Red Reckoning mantra.
The other key to this game is stopping Donnie Freeman.
If you don’t know who he is, check out the article we just did on him. He’s a nightmare to guard and a future NBA prospect. 6’9, ability to take you off the bounce, great shooter, and just an all-around elite player. He’s averaging almost 19ppg for them and grabbing 7 boards.
Stopping him is key.
They also have JJ Starling, who lit NC State up last season, along with Williams Kyle III, another 6’9 monster-athlete.
This Syracuse team is turnover-prone, but they are also very large, very athletic guys all over the place.
This isn’t going to be a game where Copeland can just bully his guy down low. State needs to play smart, get open looks from outside, and knock them down.
GAME NOTES
– NC State went on a 15-2 run in the second half to take control of the game and win at Pitt, 81-72, on Saturday afternoon. The Pack scored on 14 of its final 15 offensive possessions.
– NC State has won its first four ACC road games this season. It’s the first time the Pack started its ACC schedule by winning its first four ACC road games since the 1973–74 season, when NC State went 12–0 in conference play and went on to capture the National Championship with a 30–1 overall record.
– Ven-Allen Lubin posted a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the win. He finished the game 5-of-9 from the field and 7-of-8 from the foul line. Lubin has now shot over 50 percent in every game except for one this season. The Orlando, Fla., native leads the ACC and ranks sixth in the NCAA in field goal percentage at 66.9 percent. In his fourth season of college basketball, Lubin is averaging a career-best 13.4 points per game and his rebounding average of 6.9 per game is also the best of his career.
– Quadir Copeland led NC State with 20 points against Pitt and also passed out nine assists as the Philadelphia, Pa., native continues to stuff the stat sheet this season. Over the last 14 games, Copeland is averaging 15.4 points, 7.0 assists, and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 52.9 percent (74-of-140) from the field. The senior has led the Pack in scoring in seven of the last 14 games, in assists in 13 of the last 14 games (including 12 consecutive games) and in steals in seven of the last 14 games.
– NC State tied the program record with 19 made three-pointers in the win over Florida State on Jan. 10. It also tied an ACC record for most three-pointers by a single team in an ACC game. It’s the third time in program history that NC State has made 19 three-pointers in a game and the second time this season. NC State also hit 19 three-pointers in the season-opening win over NC Central.
– NC State has had double-digit three-pointers in 10 of 20 games this season. The Pack has had two games with 19 made three-pointers, a game with 17 made threes and another game with 16. The Pack currently ranks second in the ACC and 21st in the NCAA with an average of 10.8 three-pointers made per game. NC State leads the ACC and ranks ninth in the NCAA in three point percentage, making 39.4 percent of its attempts from long range this season.
STORY LINES
– NC State senior guard Quadir Copeland faces the team he played with for the first two years of his collegiate career when the Pack and Syracuse face off on Tuesday night. Copeland appeared in 52 games for the Orange in his freshman and sophomore seasons. He averaged 9.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game in the 2023-24 season with Syracuse. HIs best game in a Syracuse uniform ironically occurred in the Lenovo Center as he scored a then career-high 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting in a Syracuse win.
– NC State is off to a 5-2 start in ACC play for just the third time in the last 14 seasons. The Pack was also 5-2 in conference play in the 2023-24 and 2012-13 seasons. If NC State wins on Tuesday, it’ll be 6-2 in ACC play for the first time since the 2005-06 team started the ACC season with an 8-2 record.
– NC State outscored Pitt, 22-3 in points off turnovers in Saturday’s win. In seven ACC games this season, the Pack has outscored its opponents by 90 points in points off turnovers. NC State has now had more points off turnovers than its opponents in 12 of the last 13 games. In 20 games overall this season, NC State has outscored its opponents by 171 points in points off turnovers.
– NC State had single digit turnovers for the fifth consecutive game as the Pack turned it over just eight times in the win over Pitt. NC State leads the ACC in turnovers (and ranks 21st in the NCAA), averaging just 9.7 per game. NC State only has 37 turnovers (7.4 per game) in the Pack’s last five outings.
In its last five games, NC State passed out 81 assists and had just 37 turnovers (2.19 assist-to-turnover ratio). NC State is second in the ACC and ranks 18th in the NCAA with a 1.70 assist-to-turnover ratio this season.
– The Pack has a +41 turnover margin in its seven ACC games this season and leads the ACC and ranks 12th in the NCAA with a +4.6 turnover margin. The only two power conference teams in the NCAA to have a better turnover margin than the Pack are Houston (+6.9) and Iowa State (+6.1). NC State has had the same or fewer turnovers than its opponent in 18 of 20 games this season. VCU and Ole Miss are the only two opponents to have fewer turnovers than the Pack when they played.
– NC State has had double digit steals in five of its seven ACC games and has 71 overall in ACC play. The Pack leads the conference in ACC-only contests with an average of 10.1 steals per game. Quadir Copeland’s 2.3 steals per game average in ACC play is the fourth-best average in the conference. NC State has nine players that have 13 or more steals this season.
– Paul McNeil, Jr., has made multiple three-pointers in nine consecutive games (he made 5 at Pitt on Saturday) and has made 39 three-pointers in that stretch (4.3 per game) and is shooting 47.6% from long range in those contests. For the season, McNeil is averaging 3.2 three-pointers per game to rank second in the ACC and 27th in the NCAA while his three-point percentage of 42.0 percent leads the ACC and ranks 30th in the NCAA.
– Win the Boards, win the game? NC State won on Tuesday at Pitt despite giving up 26 offensive rebounds (most for a Pack opponent since 2010) being outrebounded by 21 (biggest rebounding deficit since February 2022). The Pack is 10-0 when it outrebounds its opponent this season, but just 4-6 when it is outrebounded.
– The win at Florida State marked the fourth time this season NC State has gone over the century mark. It’s the most 100 point games in a single season for NC State since the 1995-96 team had four. For the season, NC State averages 85.3 points per game which is fourth in the ACC and 33rd in the NCAA. The Pack is currently on pace to average its most points since Fire & Ice (Chris Corchiani and Rodney Monroe) led the Pack to an average of 89.3 points per game in the 1990-91 season.
– Ven-Allen Lubin has been unstoppable in the second half of games this season: A missed shot midway through the second half against Liberty on Dec. 10 snapped a streak of 24 consecutive made second half field goals for Ven-Allen Lubin. In 19 games this season, Lubin is shooting 78.3 percent (65-of-83) from the field in the second half. As a team this season, NC State is shooting over 50 percent from the field in the second half. Through 20 games, the Pack is shooting 51.0 percent in the second half, including 42.9 percent from three-point range. NC State has also been excellent at the foul line in the final 20 minutes of games as the Pack is making 78.2 percent of its free throw attempts.
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