Not only will the East regional teams be playing on a bigger stage, they’ll be playing in a bigger arena than some players have ever stepped foot in before.

No. 8 seed North Carolina State and fourth-seeded Louisville, the teams squaring off in the 7:37 p.m. Sweet 16 showdown in the Carrier Dome on Friday, hold the slight advantage of having played on Syracuse’s floor within the last two years. Third-seeded Oklahoma and No. 7 seed Michigan State don’t.

But while some players say the depth perception in the spacious Carrier Dome isn’t anything to worry about, others acknowledge there are adjustments to be made.

Oklahoma sophomore guard Frank Booker: “The basket, there’s nothing behind it. It takes a little more focus on the rim to be able to make more shots.”

N.C. State sophomore forward Kyle Washington: “You’ve just got to focus on the rim. You can’t focus on all the people around and the depth perception of the Dome and stuff like that. You can’t be worried about that. It is there, but you’ve just got to have confidence.”

MSU freshman guard Lourawls Nairn Jr.: “Shooting on a full-court rim for the first time is kind of hard, but I think once we focus in, you just have to make shots.”

Washington added that the Wolfpack’s visit to the Carrier Dome in February 2014 — a 56-55 loss to the Orange — will give NCSU a little bit of an edge shooting the ball, but the extra pressure that comes with a Sweet 16 appearance will create a different environment.

Spartans junior guard Bryn Forbes, who praised the arena as “one of the premier places in college basketball,” also said that MSU held a few practices at 10 p.m. this week to adjust to the 10:07 p.m. estimated tip time for its matchup with Oklahoma.

Louisville guard Terry Rozier, when asked about the depth perception in the Carrier Dome, broke it down simply.

“I grew up in a park where the wind was always blowing, so you adjust — go to the hole. Don’t shoot the ball. Raining outside, snowing outside, you play basketball,” Rozier said. “People always make excuses. Just play ball.”

Published on March 26, 2015 at 5:39 pm

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb