The Wolfpack gets another shot at their first road win
When: Wednesday February 26 – 7:00 PM
Where: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse NY
TV: ESPNU
Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): Syracuse 73-71 / Syracuse 72-71
Wolfpack Snapshot:
- Record: 11-16, 4-12
- Rankings: KP #105, BT #102, WAB -7.1 ranked 172nd
- NET Ranking: NET 118, 12th in ACC Conf NET rankings
- NET performance: Q1 (0-8), Q2 (1-6), Q3 (2-2), Q4 (8-0)
Wolfpack Season So Far:
Realistically, two sad goals remain this season:
- STRETCH GOAL – Make the ACC tournament – The bottom 3 teams aren’t invited. Currently the Wolfpack is out, ranked 17th and they are 1 game behind Cal & Syracuse in front of us with four games left to play. Beating the Orange is critical.
- WIN AT LEAST ONE MORE – Avoid tying or exceeding the most losses in Wolfpack history – 2021-2022: 11-21 / 4-16
*** 26 Days Till the Fun Resumes! Transfer Season 2025 Begins March 24. Players have the March 24–April 22 window to submit their names and be eligible to play in the fall. Time to start (discretely) shopping!
Wolfpack Player Notes:
- Mike James – In the Monday 2/17 press conference, Coach Keatts’ confirmed season long expectations that James is “unlikely to play this season”.
- Paul McNeil – ‘P2’ had his coming out party Saturday. After taking his first 16 games to make 7 field goals, he hit 8 against Wake Forest. He got his first start against the Deacs, playing 28 minutes and loaded the box score with 24 points (8-13 / 4-7 / 4-4), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal. Here’s a two minute version of the game, enjoy, it will probably be the highlight of the season.
Opponent Overview:
This is coach Autry’s second season leading the Orange after being selected head coach after Jim Boeheim retired at the end of the ’22-’23 season. In his first season Syracuse went 20-12 / 11-9 reaching 20 & 11 for the first time since ’13-’14.
Following the ACC recommendations, they played four tough OOC opponents, Texas (-4), Texas Tech (-5), Tenn (-26), and Maryland (-27), but ended the OOC schedule at 6-5.
Opponent Snapshot:
- Record: 11-16, 5-11
- Rankings: KP #129, BT #136, WAB -6.7 ranked 164th
- NET Ranking: NET 147, 15th in ACC Conf NET rankings
- NET performance: Q1 (0-8), Q2 (1-6), Q3 (4-2), Q4 (6-0)
Their ACC Rankings of Note – Conference Play: (Source: theacc.com)
- Defense – 16th
- Combined Team Rebounds – 3rd
- Team Offensive Rebounds – 3rd
- Team Defensive Rebounds – 5th
- Turnover Margin – 18th
- Assist / Turnover Ratio – 17th
Their Season So Far:
According to KenPom, their best win so far this season has been beating (ACC 14th ranked) Cal in Berkeley.
Player Notes
- JJ Starling – 6th in ACC
- Eddie Lampkin – 1st in ACC
Keys To The Game
Guard the three-point line – Syracuse has hit double digit 3PT shots in 4 games this season, including 14-33 in their most recent game last week against Pitt. Chris Bell was 7-12 from 3PT in that game, by far his best game of the season.
Keep the rebounding totals close – Syracuse is ranked 3rd in the ACC in team rebounds, and Lampkin is ranked #1. He had 23 rebounds in their first game with Pitt. The Wolfpack had their best ACC rebounding game of the season against Wake, Styles pulled 10 and the bigs 11.
For The Wolfpack to Win
Road win – The Pack has not won on the road all season. Need to get tough, get focused, and get ice cream.
Find Some Offense – Our defense has kept us in most games, but the offense has been anemic. NC State shot 50% / 40.6% / 82.4% for the game against Wake. While we are unlikely to do that again, we need to put points on the board. Jayden Taylor was cold against Wake, we need him to heat up in the great white north. Styles has hit double digits in our last two games, we need him to keep it going. We need points from the bigs. And can McNeil do it again?