The Syracuse basketball squad simply did what they have to do to stay alive in the March Madness conversation. ITLH breaks down the win over Wake Forest.
Here’s the thing I guess we just have to realize. This specific Syracuse basketball team is so discombobulated offensively. That’s how this game started out anyway.
I mean if it isn’t just a wide open shot due to play design or hitting the juke move, this team settles for isolation and just kind of looks at each other when the first option isn’t there.
Knowing all of this, I’m actually impressed with what they’ve been able to do this season with such limited options. Speaking of limited options, the Orange got a pleasant surprise before the game started when they learned that there’d be no Matthew Moyer in this game.
Although on the other side of the coin, getting Bourama Sidibe back in this one was critical both on the boards and in terms of the energy he brought to the floor.
In this first half the Orange did a nice job of forcing turnovers or Wake Forest was careless with the ball, depending on your perspective.
One thing I’d like to see more moving forward is Marek Dolezaj taking that free-throw line jumper. Opposing teams are not respecting his shooting ability and he should take advantage of that, especially when you consider how limited this team is.
I don’t think he’ll ever be a 20 plus point scorer, but I do think he could make his money from mid-range.
The thing that continues to happen is the Orange is lackadaisical defensively and opposing teams take advantage with a big three at the end of halves, that again happened on Sunday. SU took a 31-21 lead into the half.
Here’s an interesting fun fact before these past two games against Wake Forest (31) and Louisville (39), SU hadn’t scored more than 28 points in the first half in eight straight games.
Some clutch shooting from the dynamic duo at the top of the zone paced SU in Tyus Battle and Frank Howard! Limiting turnovers (two total), exceptional three point shooting (50%) and the Orange started putting the strangehold on Wake.
Second half
Six minutes into the second half Tyus Battle single-handedly brought the loud house alive with a nasty shake-and-bake move that led to a four point play. It waas palpable the level of swag being displayed by Battle in this one.
You could tell he was feeling it from the get-go and the best thing to do is step out of the way and let him do his thing. Put a thunderous slamma jamma and the Carrier Dome was in danger of coming down after Battle put it down.
But at the 10 minute mark, Wake got back-to-back long range connections and that’s all it took for Jim Boeheim to rip the coat off and send it flying into the stands. The Orange had a comfortable lead but the Demon Deacons slowly but surely kept chipping away.
SU’s lead fell all the way to five measly points with eight minutes and change to go, a little too close for comfort. That was thanks to the mini run by Wake Forest with five straight three point possessions.
After missing their first 10 attempts, with eight minutes to go the Demon Deacons were 8-of-19.
This game got a lot closer than anyone in Central New York would’ve preferred it, but at least the Cuse found a way to survive. Interestingly enough that’s exactly what happened last Monday night when SU was on the road vs Louisville.
The Orange did have enough bricks in this game to build a small village from the charity stripe, so there’s that.
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While there were some bumps in the road, the Cuse got the win which was most important. Although what an emphatic finish to an Orange victory. Paschal Chukwu sent that attempt to a different country and Battle finished it off with a ginormous slam. Cuse win 78-70 over the Demon Deacons!