Syracuse (17-7, 8-3 Atlantic Coast) travels to North Carolina State (17-7, 5-6) on Wednesday for an 8 p.m. tip-off at PNC Arena. Syracuse looks for its ninth conference win and 11th overall win in its last 14 games, while the Wolfpack hope to snap out of a streak in which they’ve lost three of four.

Here’s what our beat writers expect to happen on Wednesday night.

Billy Heyen (19-5)
On the road again
Syracuse 70, North Carolina State 67

Last Saturday, Oshae Brissett said the Orange “find joy” in leaving road venues with smiles on their faces. So far, SU is 5-1 in true road games this season, and I expect that to continue against a Wolfpack team that played well in nonconference, but has no strong ACC wins. Brissett and Tyus Battle should be the two best players on the floor Wednesday, and sometimes, that’s all it takes.

Charlie DiSturco (18-6)
Pack a punch
Syracuse 67, North Carolina State 63

North Carolina State is a really interesting team. The Wolfpack are a very strong offensive team yet haven’t been great in the ACC. They lost to Wake Forest, put up 24 points against Virginia Tech and most recently only downed Pittsburgh by one possession. With Oshae Brissett and Buddy Boeheim’s recent success, Syracuse should be able to handle NC State on the road — where the Orange have ironically been better. Frank Howard needs to become the senior floor general has can be, and I think he’ll bounce back from a rough couple of games against the Wolfpack on Wednesday.

Matthew Gutierrez (16-8)
Wolf wolf!
Syracuse 68, North Carolina State 67

NC State, which has played a tough first half of the conference slate, reminds me a lot of Syracuse. Both are good teams that have showed some promise, but neither has really shone at the level they’re capable.

No road ACC game is easy, and it’ll take a close-to-complete performance for Syracuse to grab its ninth ACC win and improve to 18-7 overall. My eyes are on senior point guard Frank Howard and how he’ll respond amid his slump. Also of note: Who dictates tempo? One of the fastest teams plays one of the slowest. Tempo could decide the winner.

Published on February 12, 2019 at 12:42 pm