NC State and Syracuse are both in ‘must-win’ mode as Selection Sunday draws near
Jim Boeheim is really good at coaching zone defense and winning college basketball games.
Whenever the veteran Syracuse coach retires, he could have a future as an expeditious bracketologist.
The Orange (14-9, 7-5 ACC) hosts N.C. State (15-8, 6-6 ACC) on Tuesday in a matchup of ACC teams with similar prospects for the NCAA tournament.
“We have to win,” Boeheim said Monday on the ACC coaches teleconference.
When asked if he talks to his team about the importance of such games or tracks the NET or his team’s postseason outlook, the 75-year-old coach who has been to the NCAA tournament 34 times and the Final Four five times, said:
“I don’t have to look at the NET or anything else. When you’re in this position ... you have to win.”
Syracuse, coming off of two losses in the past three games, is No. 65 in the NCAA’s NET rankings. That means Tuesday’s trip to the Carrier Dome is another chance for a “Quadrant 1” win for N.C. State (No. 62 in NET).
The Wolfpack is 1-1 in Q1 games inside the ACC and 2-2 overall. A lack of top quality wins was the primary reason N.C. State was left out of the NCAA tournament last season.
Kevin Keatts wants strong shooting against Syracuse
The Wolfpack was off this past weekend after an 83-72 win at Miami on Wednesday. Kevin Keatts’ team showed some signs of life on offense, even without the services of forward Jericole Hellems (shoulder) for the whole game and forward D.J. Funderburk for most of the second half.
Funderburk caught an inadvertent elbow in the head from teammate Manny Bates early in the second half and was held out for the rest of the game as a precaution.
Keatts said on Monday that he was hopeful to have both Hellems and Funderburk for Tuesday’s important road game. N.C. State has had its complete lineup for only four of 12 ACC games this season.
Keatts will take another shooting effort like the one his shorthanded lineup turned in at Miami. The Wolfpack shot 40.9 percent (9 of 22) from the 3-point line in the road win over the Hurricanes. His team has made only 30.8 percent of its 3s in ACC play this season.
Junior guard Braxton Beverly (4 of 7) had his best shooting game since a 4-for-4 effort at Wake Forest on Dec. 7. Beverly was instrumental in N.C. State’s 73-58 win over the Orange in Raleigh last year with four 3s and 21 points.
NC State needs Q1 wins
Keatts is 2-0 against Boeheim with a 74-70 win at the Carrier Dome in February 2018. The Wolfpack went 10 of 23 from 3 in that win. Keatts has had success against the Orange’s 2-3 zone by popping point guard Markell Johnson into the middle of the zone near the foul line.
“You’ve got to be able to make shots and make plays for others,” Keatts said of the soft spot in the middle of the zone.
Senior guard C.J. Bryce will get a chance to play the role of mid-range shooter, which former wing Torin Dorn used to fill to a “T.” Bryce is coming off of a bounce-back effort with 22 points in the win at Miami.
“He’s probably our best guy in the middle because he can make that mid-range shot,” Keatts said of Bryce.
N.C. State has three more Q1 games left in the regular season after Tuesday’s game: at home against Duke (Feb. 19), at home against Florida State (Feb. 22) and at Duke (March 2).
N.C. State had two Q1 wins last year on Selection Sunday. It has two this season with four chances left before the ACC tournament, although a surge from Wisconsin (No. 33 in the NET on Monday) could also help the Wolfpack’s cause.
NC State at Syracuse
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Watch: ESPN2
Listen: WRAL-101.5, WXRC-95.7
NC State (15-8, 6-6 ACC)
G Markell Johnson 13.2 ppg, 6.6 apg
G Devon Daniels 11.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg
G C.J. Bryce 13.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg
F D.J. Funderburk 12.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg
F Manny Bates 5.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg
Syracuse (14-9, 7-5 ACC)
G Joseph Girard 11.8 ppg, 3.7 apg
G Buddy Boeheim 16.6 ppg, 2.3 apg
G Elijah Hughes 19.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg
F Marek Dolezaj 10.4 ppg, 7.0 rpg
F Bourama Sidibe 5.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg
