Last month the Syracuse Orange took their first ACC road trip of the season to Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons weren’t gracious hosts, as Syracuse left Winston-Salem, N.C. with a 73-67 loss. This Sunday, the Orange looks to return the favor as the Deacons visit the Carrier Dome for a 1p.m. contest.
Syracuse (16-8, 5-6 in the ACC) enters this game having scored a huge 78-73 win at Louisville Monday night. Wake Forest (9-15, 2-10 in the ACC) is on a two-game losing streak, dropping games to Clemson 75-67 and at Miami 87-81.
In the Orange’s January 3rd visit to Wake Forest, it was a fairly close game throughout. The Deacons won the points in the paint battle 24-20. Syracuse had the edge in second chance points 11-9. Fast break points went to the Wake 4-2. While Wake Forest enjoyed a 20-0 edge in points off the bench, that was mitigated by the Orange starters outscoring the Deacons starters by 14 points.
The score was tied four times and the lead changed hands four times. The Demon Deacons largest lead was eight points with 11:35 left in the first half. A Frank Howard jumper gave Syracuse it’s largest lead at 51-46 with 6:57 left in the game. From that point on, Wake Forest outscored the Orange 17-10 keyed by two huge 3-point baskets by Bryant Crawford. A layup by Terrance Thompson gave the Deacons a 63-61 lead they never relinquished.
Syracuse currently sits in 10th place in the ACC Standings. With seven games to play, four of them at home, the ‘Cuse needs to win this game to get back to a .500 record in the conference. They got good shots in the Louisville game and converted. They moved the ball well, scored 30 points in the paint and had 20 points off of turnovers. They only committed eight turnovers themselves. The Orange must find Wake’s 3-point shooters and get out on them. The Deacs made 9 of 19 attempted threes against Syracuse in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
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