Syracuse men’s basketball aims to break its 3 game conference losing streak on the road against NC State

After Syracuse men’s basketball (12-8, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) defeated Florida State for its third straight ACC win, there was plenty of hope and optimism that SU would end the five-year drought of not getting to the NCAA tournament. Well, it’s been a rough stretch since. The Orange have now lost three straight conference games, all by single digits. This is the first time that’s happened since 2021.

While hoping to recover from the losing streak, Syracuse now faces a challenging stretch. Three out of the next four games for the Orange are against teams that are in the top six of the conference, including their next opponent, NC State (14-6, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Despite the recent tough results and the difficult schedule ahead, SU head coach Adrian Autry remains optimistic, believing his team is not far off.

“We still have a lot of great opportunities, and this team has competed; we’ve come up short,” said SU head coach Adrian Autry after an 85-76 loss to Miami Saturday. “It’s there, we just need to be able to do some little things better.”

Now, NC State is third in the ACC, winners of four out of the last five games, with one of those coming against number 18 Clemson on the road. And, as of this moment in time, arguably a lock for the NCAA tournament.

What has made the Wolfpack so dangerous this season is their ability to put the ball in the cup. NC State is in the top 5 in the ACC in all of the following categories: points per game (4th- 85.3), field goal percentage (5th- 47.6%), three-point field goal percentage (1st- 39.4%), free throw percentage (4th- 76.2%), and turnover margin (1st- 4.6).

Coach Autry is imploring his team to grasp that they can’t take any possession off defensively in conference play.

“They have to understand that every possession matters and that's going to be the difference," said coach Autry after the loss to Miami.

A big reason why the Wolfpack are tearing it up offensively this season is because of its leader and point guard, Quadir Copeland.

The senior leads NC State in scoring with 14.1 points per game. Plus, Copeland averages 6.2 assists per game, which is the fourth best in the ACC this season. But, Syracuse fans are familiar with Copeland, as the senior spent two seasons in the blue and orange jersey back in 2022-2024.

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In his time with Syracuse, he saw decent action in his freshman season but took a major leap in his second season. Copeland averaged only 2.2 points per game while coming off the bench in year one. But in year two, that number jumped to 9.6, and he started more than 30 games for the Orange. For Copeland, his time with Syracuse was rewarding because he got to play right away, which was key for his development.

“Being a freshman coming in, and trying to play in front of senior guards and senior bigs, I feel like that was the first time I got humbled,” Copeland said.

After his time with the ‘Cuse, Copeland went to McNeese State for a year and then followed his coach to NC State. So, with all of the success that NC State is having this season, it’s coming with a first-year head coach: Will Wade.

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This season marks number 12 for Wade as a college basketball head coach, with previous stops at VCU, LSU, and most recently, McNeese State.

In his brief two-year stint, Wade led the Cowboys to back-to-back Southland Conference regular season and tournament championships and was named the Southland Conference Coach of the Year both seasons. Plus, McNeese State upset fifth-seeded Clemson in last year’s NCAA tournament as a 12 seed.

Syracuse and NC State are set to tip off this Tuesday at 7:00. WAER’s coverage of SU going out to Raleigh begins with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Tipoff at 6:30, which will be live right here on waer.org or on 88.3 FM.