Syracuse, NY—-It is something about the Carrier Dome, the Orangemen seems to take their game to another level.
The Syracuse men’s basketball team put an end to its two-game losing streak, beating Wake Forest on Saturday night 94 to 72. They put up 55 second half points to seal the win.
Buddy Boeheim scored a season-high 30 points, including 19 in the second half for the Orange on 12-21 shooting and 6-11 from downtown. Cole Swider scored 18 points on 8-11 shooting. Joe Girard chipped in 13 points with four assists while Jesse Edwards played through foul trouble but manage to score 12 points.
Despite the loss, Wake Forest (17-5, 7-4 ACC) shot 48.2 percent from the field (27-of-56) including 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from beyond the arc. Also, the Demon Deacons outrebounded Cuse by 12 offensive rebounds but couldn’t buy a basket in the closing minutes of the contest.
“All of the credit goes to Syracuse tonight. They whooped our tail in every aspect of the game. We tried several people, but no one could guard Buddy Boeheim. Cole Swider shot the ball well and Joseph Girard really hurt us at the end of the first half when we had the opportunity to get a comfortable lead. We also couldn’t get Jesse Edwards on the bench after fouling him out in our last game. They just didn’t feel us out there defensively, but that’s a credit to Syracuse and their really good offensive weapons.” Wake head coach Steve Forbes said.
Wake opened the contest with a 7-0 run that gave the Deacs a 12-9 lead going into the under-16 timeout.
Alondes Williams and Daivien Williamson extended the run to 11-0 out of the timeout, extending the lead to 16-9 with just over 13 minutes remaining until the break.
The Orange trailed 42-39 at the half.
In the second half, Syracuse made some adjustments and came out smoking hot. Cuse made eight of its first 10 shots on its way to a 22-6 run to go up by 13 point just six minutes into the half. Boeheim and Swider couldn’t miss in the second half, the Syracuse defense got crucial stops in the last few minutes of the game. Syracuse would cruise the rest of the way.
Boeheim put the offense on his back. Syracuse went from a 45-43 deficit to a 51-45 advantage. Boeheim caught fire and hit a pair of 3-pointers —right in front of the Orange bench to keep the Deacs at bay.
Williamson led the Demon Deacons with a career-high tying 27 points on a career-high 10 made field goals and five three-pointers, tying a previous career high. The Winston-Salem native scored 17 points in the first half on six made field goals, including a trio of treys.
Wake Forest had been the hot team entering Saturday’s game. The Demon Deacons had their four-game win streak snapped by the Orange.
Syracuse, which had lost six out of eight prior to Saturday’s contest, improved its record to 10-11 for the season and 4-6 in the ACC Conference.
Wake Forest just couldn’t stop the Orange in the game’s second half.
Syracuse made 23 of its 37 field goal attempts in the game’s final 20 minutes.
The Orange did it against a Wake Forest team that was ranked first in the conference, in field goal percentage defense and third in 3-point field goal defense.
Syracuse shot 62 percent the field in the second half, finishing 36-63 (57%) for the game.
UP NEXT:
Wake Forest returns home Wednesday, Feb. 2 for a matchup with the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Syracuse travels to North Carolina on Wednesday to play NC State.
