I’d ask Jim Boeheim a risky question during a press conference for you on this Valentine’s Day
Teams: Syracuse Orange (15-10, 8-6) vs. No. 23/22 NC State Wolfpack (20-6, 10-5)
Day & Time: Tuesday, February 14, 7:00 pm ET
Location: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Line: The Draftkings Line is a straight pick ‘em between Syracuse and NC State.
TV/Streaming: ACC Network, WatchESPN
Radio: Cuse.com, TK 99/105, WAER 88.3
NC State Blog: Backing the Pack
Rivalry: 11-6, Syracuse
Current Streak: 4, Syracuse
First Meeting: December 4, 1990 featured the first matchup between Syracuse and NC State at the Carrier Dome. The Orange won 86-79 off 24 points and 17 rebounds from junior Dave Johnson.
Last Meeting: A dominating second half saw Syracuse shoot the lights out at NC State last season to win 89-82. The Orange shot 73.9% from the floor and went 7-9 from three in the final 20 minutes against the Wolfpack.
Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images
Head Coaches: Syracuse – Jim Boeheim (47th season, 1,114-436) | NC State – Kevin Keatts (sixth season, 110-74)
Coach Bio: Keatts played his collegiate ball at D-III Ferrum College before starting his coaching career as an assistant at Southwestern Michigan for a season. He then moved to Hargrave Military Academy to take an assistant job for two seasons before being promoted to head coach. Keatts stayed for two seasons before taking an assistant job at Marshall. After two years, he returned to the head coaching role at Hargrave for an additional eight seasons.
Keatts then moved to Louisville as an assistant in 2011, where he stayed for three years and was part of the now-vacated 2013 Cardinals national championship team. Keatts then took his first D-1 head coaching job at UNC Wilmington, where he qualified for the NCAA tournament in two out of his three seasons with the Seahawks. Keatts took the NC State job in 2017 and made the NCAA tournament with the Wolfpack in his first season. NC State has won at least 20 games every season under Keatts, but that streak broke last season.
Last Year: NC State struggled mightily last season with only five wins against Power Five competition. The Wolfpack finished last in the ACC and lost in the first round of the conference tournament to Clemson.
Last Game: NC State got the distinct pleasure of warming up for Syracuse with an easy win over Boston College. The Wolfpack tied a season high with 15 threes to dominate the Eagles 92-62.
Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
“Fear Me, I’ve Killed Hundreds of Timelords”: NC State’s sniper from range is Casey Morsell. He doesn’t take the same volume of shots that Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner take, but he’s much more efficient. Morsell is shooting 49.2% from the field and 45.0% from range.
If Syracuse Wins: Now if NC State could do more winning after this to raise that NET ranking that’d be much appreciated.
If Syracuse Loses: Looks like I’m watching Gary Gait play Maryland instead of Jim Boeheim play Duke this weekend.
Fun Fact: Judah Mintz picked up his fourth ACC Rookie of the Week honor this past week for his performance against Florida State. He’s second behind Duke’s Kyle Filipowski, who has seven.
Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.