Syracuse men’s basketball comes up short against Wake Forest 88-83 for third straight loss

After back-to-back losses, Syracuse men’s basketball (15-14, 6-10 Atlantic Coast Conference) had a full week off to rest and prepare for Wake Forest (15-14, 6-10 ACC). Unfortunately for the Orange, that time off didn’t help them, since they lost 88-83 to the Demon Deacons. The loss marks the seventh single-digit defeat of the season for SU, which is half of the team’s 14 losses.

“It [Syracuse’s effort and mindset] can change, and it [Syracuse’s effort and mindset] should change because we have been too close too many times,” Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry on his team coming up short again.

And coach Red believes a lack of physicality and toughness has been hurting his team all season long, but it really showed tonight.

“You gotta be tough and you gotta want to play both ends of the floor to play college basketball,” Autry said. “You got to do tough things and make tough plays, you got to have resistance, you gotta be able to defend, and we just don’t do that.”

Well then, where did it go wrong for the Orange? Certainly not in the first half.

Syracuse led 46-42 at the end of the first 20 minutes. That advantage marked the first time that the Orange led at the break in the last six games (1/31 vs Notre Dame). Also, the 46 points for SU were the second most in a first half all season, only fewer than the 48 SU dropped against Pitt back in the middle of January.

Now, a significant reason why Syracuse put up that many points was that it made it rain from downtown. The Orange shot 10-18 on three pointers in the first half, marking the most triples that SU has made in a half all season, and was just one away from tying its highest total for an entire game (11). So, then where did it go wrong for the Orange?

The answer is simple: the defensive side of the ball in the second half.

At the 11:30 mark in the second half, Syracuse led 62-58, but Wake Forest went on a run. Over the next three and a half minutes, the Demon Deacons went on an 8-0 run and outscored the Orange 14-3 during that stretch.

“Towards the end when they made their run, we couldn’t get a stop or we couldn’t get a rebound when we did get a stop,” said coach Red.

A major reason the Demon Deacons made their run and even won the game was the play of Wake Forest guard Myles Colvin. During that run, the junior had seven of the team’s 14 points and exploded the entire game offensively.

For the game, Colvin scored 32 points, which is one point away from tying a career-high and the most any individual player has scored against SU this season. Plus, Wake’s leading scorer tonight made seven of eight from beyond-the-arc, which tied a career high.

But Colvin’s performance was not the only one in the game that was one of the best in a career. In the loss, Syracuse forward Donnie Freeman and guard Nait George reached new career milestones, with guard Nate Kingz coming very close.

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The sophomore scored a career-high 28 points on 9-13 shooting from the field. Also, Freeman made four of seven three-point attempts, which tied a career high for made threes in a game.

George hit the 1,000-point mark for his collegiate career, including his time at Georgia Tech. For the game, the junior finished with 13 points and 10 assists, which is just his second double-double of the season and with SU.

And for Kingz, the senior dropped 20 points, while splashing five of nine attempts from beyond the arc, which was one away from tying his career record of six. For Kingz, despite the offensive performances from him and his teammates, it’s all about defense.

“We got it going pretty well offensively, but it’s hard to win games when you can’t compete on the other end,” Kingz said.

Well, with last night’s loss to Wake Forest in the rear-view mirror, Syracuse now has a quick turnaround and takes on number 24 Louisville down at the KFC Yum! Center this Tuesday at 9:00. WAER’s coverage of SU attempting to break its three-game losing streak begins with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Tipoff at 8:30, which will be live right here on waer.org or on 88.3 FM.