The Orange defense has been abysmal in the second half of each of their last two losses, to Virginia and Miami respectively. The Cavaliers scored 42 points, while the Hurricanes dropped 58 on SU’s 204th ranked defense according to kenpom.com. As a team, Syracuse is giving up 76.5 points per game through 14 games. The Orange are .500 or worse this late in the season for the first time since before Jim Boeheim became the head coach.
Syracuse men’s basketball has played three close games in ACC play so far this season. After a narrow win in Tallahassee in early December, things have not gone well for the Orange. SU proceeded to follow the FSU win with a couple of losses to former Big East rivals Villanova and Georgetown. After a COVID-19 pause and a couple of games against Ivy League opponents, Syracuse has dropped its last two conference games.
Syracuse’s next opponent, Wake Forest, has enjoyed a successful start to the season after a couple of down years. The Demon Deacons are 12-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play. Wake just lost to Miami last week at the Watsco Center, as Syracuse did on Wednesday night. The Deacs are led by Alondes Williams, who is averaging a team-high 20.1 points per game. Wake Forest also has Jake Laravia and Daivien Williams in double figures, at 15.1 and 12.9 points per game respectively.
That's on 𝟵-𝟬 at home 😤#GoDeacs 🎩🏀 pic.twitter.com/hbHdF4BnQZ
— Wake Basketball (@WakeMBB) January 5, 2022
The Demon Deacons are ranked 52nd on kenpom.com this season, 21 spots higher than Syracuse. Wake was way down at 175th at the end of last season, a major improvement year over year by second-year head coach Steve Forbes. The Deacs boast the country’s 40th ranked offense and 77th ranked defense according to Pomeroy. Syracuse’s offense comes in at 19th overall, likely foreshadowing a shootout in Winston-Salem on Saturday afternoon.
For the Orange, they have not had a game against a power-conference team where everyone was clicking offensively. Only against Indiana did all four of their starting perimeter players score in double figures. Despite that, all four shot under 50% from the field in that win. Against Miami, Cole Swider and Joe Girard shot it well, against Virginia, the opposite. Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim carried the Orange offense in that game while the others struggled.
Finding consistency on the offensive end to make up for atrocious defense is the formula to winning games for Syracuse. Benny Williams and Symir Torrence continue to play sparingly as conference play gets into full swing. Frank Anselem did not see a single second against the Hurricanes, as Jesse Edwards starred for the Orange. Jim Boeheim is falling back into the habit of a short rotation, and his defense is suffering mightily.
Wake Forest averages over 80 points per game as a team and makes over 8 threes a game on average. They are also coming off a 22 point home win over Florida State. Against Syracuse’s putrid zone defense in 2022, the Demon Deacons will likely top their season averages on Saturday. The Orange are an extremely flawed team, and Wake will likely take advantage of that this weekend.
Tip-off between Syracuse and Wake Forest is at 2 p.m. on Saturday as WAER’s coverage of the game starts with GZA Countdown to Tipoff at 1:30.