After nearly a week off, North Carolina State lost on Sunday to Louisville, 85-60. The Wolfpack (14-8, 3-6 Atlantic Coast) hosts Syracuse (13-9, 5-4) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Orange is coming off its biggest win of the year, an 82-72 victory over then-No. 6 Florida State. SU’s NCAA Tournament hopes are dangling by the thread and a win over N.C. State would help shore up the Orange’s resume.

Here are three things Wolfpack head coach Mark Gottfried said on Monday’s ACC coaches teleconference.

Can’t explain SU’s home-road dilemma

Syracuse has yet to win a game outside of the Carrier Dome this season. Neither head coach Jim Boeheim nor his players have figured out why. Without a road win, it would be nearly impossible for SU to reach the NCAA Tournament.

Gottfried was next in line to be asked about the difference in Syracuse’s performance at unfamiliar venues, but neither could he provide an explanation.

“I wouldn’t have any idea about that,” Gottfried said. “Some teams are a little better than others on the road. Some teams have a lot of young guys, that contributes a lot of times to the road-home situation. I don’t know I know what’s going on with that with them.”

Boeheim is ‘one of the best’

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim currently has 897 official wins and 998 if you count the 101 that were vacated by the NCAA. Gottfried said he’s “one of the best our game has ever had.” He’s 3-3 against Boeheim in his head coaching career, including a nine-point win in the 2004 NCAA Tournament when Gottfried coached Alabama.

Since SU joined the ACC, the two head coaches  have each won two games. Three of the four games were separated by less than 10 points.

“He’s won a ton of games and he’s hard to play against,” Gottfried said. “Their zone is tricky to play against. They’re good in it, they have great length. The players know what they’re trying to accomplish with their zone so he’s just one of the best there is.”

Defending 3-pointers

N.C. State is allowing opponents to hit 33.7 percent from 3-point range, which ranks 10th in the ACC and 109th in the country. Gottfried said it’s an area that could use improvement because his team has been focusing more on defending inside rather than outside.

In N.C. State’s last three games, it’s progressively allowed more 3-pointers each time. The Wolfpack gave up six 3s in a loss to Wake Forest, eight in a win at Duke and 12 in a 25-point loss to Louisville.

Syracuse is shooting 3s at a 38.6-percent clip, which ranks fourth in the ACC and 41st in the nation.

“I think we just need to get to shooters better,” Gottfried said. “We’re trying to take penetration to the paint a lot. When you try to take one thing away, sometimes you’re vulnerable in other areas. But I think we can do a better job there.”

Published on January 30, 2017 at 12:56 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds