NC State Wolfpack basketball (7-5, 3-4 ACC) continues conference play Sunday night against Syracuse in the Carrier Dome at 6 p.m. on ACC Network.

The Orange are 9-5 (3-4 ACC) under head coach Jim Boeheim in his 45th season with the program. Syracuse is coming off of an 81-58 road loss at No. 8 Virginia.

The Pack is also coming off of a win, a 72-67 home victory over Wake Forest. NC State will also be playing its first game this season without fifth-year senior guard Devon Daniels, who was the Wolfpack's leading scorer but suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the Wake Forest win.

Here is the scouting report on Syracuse:

Syracuse opened the season 6-1 but has lost four of its last seven games since a COVID outbreak in the program caused the Orange to pause for over two weeks at the end of December.

Like NC State, Cuse is desperate for some quality wins this season.

So far, the Orange's best win was a 78-60 home victory over No. 20 Virginia Tech on Saturday, Jan. 23.

Other than that, the program's best win was a home victory over Boston College, who is currently 1-6 in ACC play. Granted, Syracuse won that game by 38 points.

The Orange are 1-5 against teams ranked in the top 70 according to KenPom. NC State is currently No. 70 according to the analytics size.

Syracuse was projected to finish sixth in the conference in the preseason ACC media poll.

Syracuse is ranked No. 52 in the NET rankings (NC State is No. 81), which makes Sunday's contest a "quad one" game for the Pack, one of three remaining on the Wolfpack's schedule, not including the postponed contests that could be rescheduled.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Orange ranked No. 26 (NC State is No. 46), and KenPom.com has Cuse ranked No. 45 (NC State is No. 70).

Syracuse is also ranked No. 70 in the old RPI formula used by the NCAA — according to RealTimeRPI.com.

Syracuse relies heavily on perimeter shooting but has struggled behind the arc despite filling the court with capable shooters.

The Orange are shooting just 31.4 percent on three-point attempts this season, which ranks 257th nationally.

SU's perimeter shooting has been slightly better in league play. Cuse has shot 32.8 percent on three-pointers against ACC competition, which ranks 11th in the conference. 43 percent of its field goal attempts have come from behind the arc in league play, which ranks fifth in the ACC.

Syracuse has been efficient with its two-point and free-throw shooting, however.

The Orange have shot 53.7 percent on two-point attempts, which ranks 54th among Division I teams. Cuse has also made 79.3 percent of its free throws, which ranks eighth nationally.

Despite its efficiency, Syracuse has struggled to get to the line. Just 19 percent of the Orange's points have come from the strike, which ranks 146th nationally.

Advantage: NC State

Syracuse is an average rebounding team that has found more success on the defensive glass.

The Orange averages 37.4 rebounds per game, which ranks 108th nationally, and its 27.4 defensive rebounds per contest is good for 79th among Division I teams.

Cuse has struggled to keep its opposition off of the offensive glass, however. SU has allowed its conference opponents to an offensive rebound on 36.5 percent of misses, which ranks last in the ACC.

Sophomore forward Quincy Guerrier leads the team in rebounding with 9.4 boards per game, which ranks second in the ACC.

Advantage: Syracuse

Syracuse has an adjusted defensive efficiency of 96.0 (points per 100 possessions) according to KenPom, which ranks 63rd nationally.

Cuse's adjusted defensive efficiency increases to 102.2 (points per 100 possessions) in league play, which ranks eighth in the ACC.

The Orange have been strong in event creation on the defensive end. Cuse ranks 15th nationally in block percentage (14.3 percent) and 19th in steal percentage (12 percent).

Syracuse has held opponents to 29.9 percent shooting from the perimeter, which ranks 48th nationally. The Orange have a defensive effective field goal percentage of 46.8, good for 55th among Division I teams.

Advantage: Syracuse

Syracuse has just six players that average 10 or more minutes per game. All six of them average at least 21 minutes per contest.

The Orange get just 17.6 percent of its total minutes played from players off of the bench, which ranks 341st nationally.

Even without Daniels, NC State will play at least seven-deep.

Advantage: NC State

Sophomore forward Quincy Guerrier leads Syracuse in scoring and rebounding.

The 6-7, 220-pounder averages 16.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per contest.

Guerrier is currently one of three players in the ACC averaging at least 16 points and eight rebounds per game. The other are conference player of the year candidates Justin Champagnie of Pittsburgh and Matthew Hurt of Duke.

Guerrier leads the team with a 55.8 field goal percentage. He's also shooting 33.3 percent from the perimeter and 76.1 percent from the free-throw line.

3-0 Is head coach Kevin Keatts' record against Syracuse during his time with the Wolfpack. NC State defeated Syracuse 79-74 in the Carrier Dome in the only meeting last season.

71.4 Is NC State's win percentage in games the Pack wins the turnover margin under Keatts. Syracuse may be the exception. In three games, the Wolfpack has yet to win the turnover margin in a single contest under Keatts. State averages 19.3 turnovers per game and has a combined turnover margin of -16 in the last three meetings with the Orange.

3 Wolfpack players will have played in every contest this season after Sunday: redshirt junior guard Thomas Allen, junior forward Jericole Hellems and freshman guard Shakeel Moore. NC State will be without fifth-year senior guard Devon Daniels for the first time this year after he suffered a season-ending ACL tear in the Wake Forest win. Daniels was the team leader in scoring (16.5 ppg), assists (3.1 apg) and steals (1.7 spg). He also ranked third on the team in rebounding (5.1 rpg).

NC State

G — 3 Cam Hayes (6-3, 175, Fr., 7.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 3.1 apg)

G — 10 Braxton Beverly (6-0, 180, Sr., 6.3 ppg, 2.5 apg, 1.7 spg)

G — 5 Thomas Allen (6-1, 180, R-Jr., 7.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.4 spg)

F — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 205, Jr., 11.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.6 apg)

C — 15 Manny Bates (6-11, 230, R-So., 9.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.4 bpg)

Syracuse

G – 11 Joseph Girard (6-1, 195, So., 10.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.0 apg)

G – 0 Alan Griffin (6-5, 190, Jr. 15.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.4 apg)

G – 35 Buddy Boeheim (6-6, 195, Jr., 14.5 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 3.2 apg)

F – 1 Quincy Guerrier (6-7, 220, So., 16.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 0.9 apg)

F –21 Marek Dolezaj (6-10, 201, Sr., 11.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.4 apg)

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