NC State got off to a poor start in conference play posting a 4-8 record before starting to put things together in mid-February. The Wolfpack won five in a row before their game Saturday versus No. 22 Virginia Tech was canceled. They will need to win a few games in the ACC tournament for them to have any chance to make the Big Dance. The offense was led by Devon Daniels with 16.5 points a game before going down with a season-ending ACL injury in late January. Since then, Jericole Hellems has put up 13.1 points. In their two losses to Syracuse this season, he was even better, averaging 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds. DJ Funderburk adds 12.1 points.

Syracuse has won five of its last seven games to close the regular season. They would like to get a win here to secure a spot in the Big Dance. They finished the regular season with nice wins over North Carolina and Clemson. The offense is led by Buddy Boeheim with 16.0 points and he dishes out 2.7 assists a game. Alan Griffin adds 15.3 points and he is grabbing 6.6 rebounds. Quincy Guerrier chips in 14.5 points and 8.9 rebounds.

NC State was on a nice run and having the game canceled against Virginia Tech could have been the worst thing that happened to them. The week off may have given them time to cool down. Syracuse played well to end the season and have five very capable scorers. Syracuse won in both regular-season match=ups and will be a tough match-up for the Wolfpack after a layoff.

Play on Syracuse.