Syracuse basketball was searching for their first conference win of the season, but it was Wake Forest who grabbed their first ever win inside of the JMA Wireless Dome.
The Demon Deacons jumped to an early 16-2 lead over the Orange before the first media timeout. Even though it looked like they would pull away early, the Orange fought back, trailing by 2 at halftime.
The Orange were led by Jaquan Carlos and Lucas Taylor, who both had 16 points. It was an important matchup for Taylor, who played two seasons with the Demon Deacons before transferring to Georgia State and then to Salt City.
The second half saw both teams jump out to multiple-possession leads. But in the end, the Demon Deacons closed out their second conference win of the season 81-71. This is also the first time that Wake Forest has won inside the JMA Dome after falling in their last six attempts.
Takeaway #1: Bench scoring
Without Syracuse basketball’s star JJ Starling on the floor, head coach Adrian Autry has struggled to find a primary scorer and has relied on a platoon style to score the basketball. In the loss to Wake Forest, Chris Bell and Elijah Moore played less than 10 minutes and did not score, leaving the bench to lead the Orange.
In the first half, Syracuse basketball dominated in bench points 25-0 and the bench finished with 40 total points. The bench was led by Kyle Cuffe who had 14 points, while only going 2-14 from the floor. But it was Cuffe’s aggression and energy that brought the Orange back into the game, as he got to the line eleven times, converting on 9 of those attempts.
If Syracuse basketball wants to be successful in conference play, the bench will have to continue to provide energy and efficiency.
Takeaway #2: Three pointers
It seems like every time Syracuse basketball steps on the floor the three-point shot will be a point of emphasis for the fans. While their struggles from behind the arc are evident, they start to slowly switch from their “live and die by the three” mentality.
While they had an opportunity to pick up their first conference win of the season, the Orange still put up 22 three-pointers, which is one less than they shot in their win over Bucknell. For a team that came into Sunday’s game shooting below 30% from behind the arc, 22 attempts may be a few too many.
Wake Forest has also struggled from behind the arc this season. Coming into their trip to the JMA Wireless Dome they were ranked in the bottom five in three-point percentage in the country at 26.5%. But in the win they made nine triples, which is the most the Demon Deacons have made in a single contest since Nov 23, in their win over Detroit Mercy.
Takeaway #3: Wake Forest’s Balance
In the win over Syracuse, nine different Wake Forest players saw the floor, five of which scored in double figures. Coming into the game, only Hunter Sallis and Cameron Hildreth were averaging in double figures. Although the Demon Deacons were led by Sallis and Hildreth, who had 23 and 14 points respectively, Tre’von Spiller and Ty-laur Johnson each added 11 points as well.
The real balance in the contest came between the three-point line and the painted area. To go along with the nine triples, Wake Forest basketball also had 30 points in the paint and another 20 coming from the free-throw line. If Wake Forest can show improvement from behind the arc and continue to balance each level on the offensive end, the Demon Deacons could find their way near the top of the ACC.
Next up for Syracuse (6-7, 0-2): vs. Florida State (9-4, 0-2) – Jan. 4 at 6 p.m. EST
Next up for Wake Forest (10-4, 2-1): vs. NC State (8-5, 1-1) – Jan. 4 at Noon EST
[…] time. The 6-foot-2 junior is coming off of a season-best performance, as he had 14 points in the loss to Wake Forest. Georgia State transfer Lucas Taylor is also coming off of a season-best 16 points in the previous […]