Five Takeaways: Wake Forest 77 Syracuse 74 (OT)
Syracuse fell 77-74 in overtime at Wake Forest on Saturday. Here are my five takeaways from the loss.
1. Edwards Needs to Stay on the Floor
Syracuse is a much better team when Jesse Edwards is on the floor. He fouled out in just 20 minutes against Wake Forest, and the Orange simply needs him to be smarter when committing fouls. It is true that two or three of his fouls were bad calls, but he also has a propensity for reaching in unnecessarily and challenging when he needs to let a player go. Such as his fifth foul, when he challenged a transition layup as the last line of defense. It was more important, at that time, to stay on the floor than prevent that basket. That is all part of the learning process, but the sooner that clicks the better. Jesse had taken strides the previous two games, playing 38 and 31 minutes. However, he still fouled out of both and has now fouled out of four straight games.
2. Defensive Improvement
It is fair to criticize Syracuse's defensive effort this season. However, it is also fair to say the defense against Wake Forest was pretty good for the most part. Sure there were break downs at times and some open shots allowed, but the Orange showed defensive promise in this game. Not that Syracuse will ever be an elite defensive team, but that they can be at least decent. Wake came in averaging over 80 points per game as the ACC's second highest scoring offense, shooting 48% from the floor. Syracuse held the Demon Deacons to 69 points in regulation and 42% shooting. Both well below Wake's season averages. Closeouts were better, contests were better and players were not out of position nearly as much. Wake was just 3-16 from three in the second half. For those looking for positive signs moving forward, including Syracuse's ability to keep the winning seasons streak alive, this should be front and center. It was not a half of solid defense, it was a full game.
3. Shooting
Syracuse missed too many open shots in this game and was part of the story as to why the Orange lost. Joe Girard was 3-12 overall and 2-9 from three despite several open looks. Buddy Boeheim was 5-20 overall and 2-9 from three point range. Syracuse needs those two to score and shoot a higher percentage, especially when they get open looks. It is going to be hard for Syracuse to win a lot of games with Buddy shooting 5-20. Syracuse shot 36% overall, but the rest of the team other than Buddy and Joe shot 44%.
4. Bench Minutes
Benny Williams played a season high 24 minutes. He showed some good things, playing solid defense and hitting a pair of mid-range jumpers. However, he only grabbed two rebounds in those 24 minutes and Syracuse needs more from him in that area. That said, he is clearly more comfortable on the court and earning the trust of the coaching staff to play that many minutes. I am a little confused, however, with the lack of minutes of Symir Torrence. He played just five minutes, had one steal and one careless turnover. Still, given Joe's struggles shooting the ball and the fact that he turned it over four times, I thought a few more minutes from Torrence given his solid play recently was warranted. I do not, however, have an issue with Frank Anselem's limited minutes. He played 10 but had a team worst -13 in the +/-.
5. Officiating
The officiating in this game had a significant impact on the outcome. We can look no further than Syracuse's second inbound attempt at the end of regulation. Buddy Boeheim was pushed in the back by Isaiah Mucius and bodied by Dallas Walton as the ball was coming to him, and neither was called. Not to mention, Walton deflected the ball out of bounds, yet the ball was awarded to Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons would tie the game rather than Buddy going to the line for free throws to extend the lead to four with 11 seconds left. That was just the tip of the iceberg, as contact, over the back, reach ins, etc were not called consistently all game. Wake Forest took just 36% of its shots inside the arc compared to Syracuse's 61%. Yet Syracuse was called for 21 fouls compared to Wake Forest's 11. Wake also had 11 more free throw attempts than Syracuse. The ACC should take a look at this game and the officials who had poor performances held accountable in some capacity. However, that will not happen as officials remain the most protected, excused entities in sports.
MORE COVERAGE OF SYRACUSE VS WAKE
Jesse Edwards Postgame Transcript
