Syracuse basketball secured an all-important victory vs Wake Forest thanks to Buddy Boeheim. Here are all the details and how the Orange got it done.
Syracuse basketball did what they had to in a gritty victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Over the last batch of games, the Orange struggled from long-range but finally in this one got it going early thanks to some fireworks from Buddy Boeheim.
In the first 12 minutes of the game, Boeheim cashed in four-of-five attempts from deep to give Syracuse the early edge.
Although something that happened in this game and quite frankly has been a theme all season is foul trouble. All of SU’s big dudes got their hands dirty in the first half and a lot of them were just dumb mistakes.
In a 10 second span late in the second half both Quincy Guerrier and Bourama Sidibe fouled out leaving the Orange extremely vulnerable on the inside.
Then a few minutes later Marek Dolezaj received a technical foul which yanked him out of the contest.
Candidly the officiating was piss poor. If you’re an official you shouldn’t make the game about you,
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Dolezaj pointing at the video board regarding a blown call doesn’t warrant a foul especially considering the scenario.
The culmination of those questionable calls forced Syracuse to make some awkward lineup changes due to the foul trouble.
This was a triple-edged sword because Syracuse’s foul trouble stymied their offense, put Wake Forest at the line, and really helped the large lead for SU to dissipate.
Wake Forest entered this game with a very competent offense and a large number of their points comes from the charity stripe. With all the unnecessary fouls, it really kept the Demon Deacons in the game because of their efficiency from the line.
An unlikely hero, Brycen Goodine, made the clutch basket at the end of the game to squeak out a 75-73 victory over the Demon Deacons.
Was this pretty? No.
But damn it Syracuse found a way to scrape out a victory when circumstances were less than ideal. Wake Forest was and is a bottom feeder in the ACC, a loss to the Demon Deacons would’ve been a major black mark on the resume.
Over the final eight games of this season, Syracuse is going to have to finish games and pull out victories if they have any realistic hopes to make the NCAA tournament.
Up next for the Orange is a huge home tilt vs the NC State Wolfpack on Tuesday, February 11 at 7:00 p.m.