The Syracuse Orange (12-8, 3-4) head to Raleigh tonight to face the NC State Wolfpack (14-6, 5-2). The game tips at 7:00 on ESPNU and here\u2019s what we\u2019re predicting:<\/p>\n
Dom: NC State 83, Syracuse 73<\/p>\n
The Wolfpack have been up-and-down all year, but NC State appears to have turned the corner with an overtime win over ranked Clemson followed by a solid win against Pitt on the road. Offensively, the Orange are going to be fine, especially if the turnovers are limited by the guards. That said, defense is where I\u2019m more concerned. Opponents have had their way over the past few weeks. NC State is also a possession machine, comfortably winning the turnover battle and having some solid forwards to at least match Freeman and Kyle on the boards. Close-ish game, but the Wolfpack have too much firepower for Syracuse to overcome.<\/p>\n
Kevin: NC State 81, Syracuse 70<\/p>\n
NC State is definitely tough to read. They were a trendy pick to challenge for the ACC title and they certainly have a lot of talent. Syracuse has to find a way to defend the perimeter tonight and force the Wolfpack to be patient. While everyone is going to be focused on Copeland, Paul McNeil and Darrion Williams are going to be matchup problems. If the Orange want to win this one, they need to try and get the ball inside early and often. One weakness for the Wolfpack is that they foul a bunch and opponents are averaging 22 free throw attempts against them.<\/p>\n
Max: NC State 78, Syracuse 67<\/p>\n
Common sense tells me that Quadir Copeland will be the most inspired player on the court, which is bad news for the Orange in 2026. Common sense also tells me that the team with higher offensive and defensive efficiencies per KenPom while being at home will win this game. Syracuse just has no confidence right now, and I can\u2019t see Autry\u2019s group competing against the most disciplined offense in ACC play. Give me a Raleigh rout by double digits.<\/p>\n
Szuba: NC State 78, Syracuse 72<\/p>\n
NC State wants to spread teams out and attack from the perimeter. The Orange defense will need to be solid for a full 40 minutes and not surrender easy looks from three to McNeil and Matt Able. As tempting as it is to pick Syracuse in a game I feel they match up well in, I just can\u2019t overlook the past three games. The Orange should have the front-court advantage in this game, but the depth of Wade\u2019s guards will wear on a fatigued and disheartened Orange squad. A motivated Copeland will have much to say about it in both the figurative and literal sense.<\/p>\n
Sam: NC State 80, Syracuse 65<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know if Syracuse has enough defenders to match up with all of the different scoring options that NC State presents right now. The Wolfpack have a clear advantage in the turnover battle, but Syracuse can try to pound the ball inside with Freeman and Kyle to score some points against NC State\u2019s front line. However, Will Wade\u2019s team has too many outside weapons, and I trust their guards to win the battle on the defensive end as well.<\/p>\n
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What\u2019s your prediction for tonight?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Syracuse Orange (12-8, 3-4) head to Raleigh tonight to face the NC State Wolfpack (14-6, 5-2). The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,231,772,1544,41947],"class_list":{"0":"post-565272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-basketball","12":"tag-ncaab","13":"tag-syracuse-mens-basketball"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115970200404988573","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}