Your “I’m Too Apathetic to Think Up a Cute Title” Syracuse Open Thread

OK, so the trip to Louisville wasn’t quite as fun as the trip to Durham. Meh…..It happens. Why did it happen this time?

You saw it, what do you think?

Effort, energy missing in NC State’s latest ‘lifeless’ ACC loss (NewsObserver.com)

LOUISVILLE, Ky.

There’s never a good time to question your team’s effort.

It’s not that N.C. State’s Terry Henderson wanted to, but another embarrassing, lopsided ACC loss, 85-60 at Louisville on Sunday, left the senior guard with no choice.

“It felt like nobody wanted to compete from the start of the game,” Henderson said. “I don’t know why. That’s just how it felt.”

Those are painful words from a team leader, no matter the point in the season, but especially so with N.C. State (14-8, 3-6 ACC) coming into this game after its biggest win of the season at Duke on Monday night.

Not that this is N.C. State’s first “lifeless” loss, as coach Mark Gottfried put it. There were similar efforts in losses to Creighton, Illinois, Miami and North Carolina. Just like those losses, this game was away from home.

None of the confidence, energy or effort from Monday’s road win at Duke carried over for the Wolfpack against a deep, powerful Louisville (18-4, 6-3) team.

The team looked like it was playing in “cement boots,” Gottfried said.

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Look, there is no shame in losing on the road at Louisville. Especially following up the emotional win in Cameron. But the way we lost? Heck, we barely even went thru the motions. Now there IS shame in that.

But nothing to do other than turn the page and try to do better. Let’s do better.

Time is growing short. And as VaWolf82 has made all too clear, such that even dummies like me can understand…..there is much ground to be made up.

Sadly, looking at the 2nd half of the season, I see a maximum of 5 wins. And that’s if we play like we did vs VT/Duke every night out. We haven’t exactly been doing that of late.

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Syracuse at NC State

Tipoff: Wednesday, February 1st, 7pm

Coverage: ESPN2

Pack Returns Home to Host Syracuse (GoPack.com)

The NC State men’s basketball team (14-8, 3-6 ACC) returns home to PNC Arena Wednesday evening to host Syracuse (13-9, 5-4 ACC) after playing its last two games on the road against ranked opponents.The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. ET.

The game will be televised on ESPN2 with Karl Ravech and LaPhonso Ellis on the call.

Fans can also listen to the game on the Wolfpack Sports Network with Gary Hahn and Tony Haynes calling the action.

Pack Tracks
– NC State fell to #13/14 Louisville, 85-60, Sunday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center. Abdul-Malik Abu and Maverick Rowan led the Pack’s offensive attack with 13 points each. Freshman Dennis Smith, Jr., added a team-best six assists and three steals.
– With at least 10 games still left in the season, freshman Dennis Smith, Jr., is already in the top-5 in numerous NC State freshman categories. He has 49 steals on the season, second-most by an NC State freshman (Chris Corchiani – 61). He has scored 417 points this season and with 10 points on Wednesday night would move past T.J. Warren and teammate Maverick Rowan into third place in the NC State record for most points scored by a freshman (Brandon Costner – 605).
– In the last three games, junior forward Abdul-Malik Abu is averaging 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest. He is shooting 63.9 percent from the field (23-of-36) and has shot at least 60 percent from the field in all three games.
– Ted Kapita‘s double-double at Duke made him the sixth NC State player to record a double-double this season. Abdul-Malik Abu (4), Dennis Smith (3), Torin Dorn (2), BeeJay Anya (1) and Omer Yurtseven (1) have also recorded double-doubles this season. The six players with a double-double ties for the most in the ACC with Florida State, UNC-Chapel Hill and Syracuse.

Syracuse’s game at North Carolina State is suddenly important for both teams (Syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. — One week ago, Syracuse’s game against North Carolina State looked like just another run-of-the-mill game in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Syracuse’s record stood at 11-9 overall and a mediocre 3-4 in the conference. North Carolina State’s record was slightly better at 13-7, but the Wolfpack was off to a 2-5 start in league play.

Then Syracuse won two straight, including an 82-72 upset of 6^th-ranked Florida State on Saturday. North Carolina State went into Cameron Indoor Stadium and stunned Duke. The 84-82 win was State’s first at Cameron Indoor in 20 years.

Syracuse and N.C. State had revived their postseason aspirations in a week’s time. And their meeting on Wednesday at N.C. State’s PNC Arena looms as a key game for both teams.

“It’s definitely important, especially for us,” Syracuse freshman Tyus Battle said Monday. “We’re trying to make a push for the tournament right now. We’re rolling right now. We just want to keep things going. We have to get wins.”

Syracuse (13-9, 5-4) and N.C. State (14-8, 3-6) are having to bolster their NCAA tournament resumes now because they failed to do so in the non-conference portion of their schedules.

Syracuse suffered bad non-conference losses to the likes of St. John’s, Connecticut and Georgetown. The Orange lacks a marquee victory outside the ACC.

N.C. State’s resume is similar. The Wolfpack lost to Creighton and Illinois before the start of conference play. However, N.C. State’s best non-conference win came against St. Joseph’s. The Wolfpack’s game against Illinois was the only one against a team from a Power 5 league and that game was part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

In Ken Pomeroy’s statistical analysis of teams on KenPom.com, Syracuse is currently No. 53, while N.C. State is down at No. 78.

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We’ll give the Random Wolf Songs one more try I guess…..