Our beat writers predict Syracuse will lose its final regular season game against Wake Forest
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A 20-point loss to Georgia Tech, a team that prior to Tuesday night had just four Atlantic Coast Conference wins, completed Syracuse’s first four-game losing streak of the season. In an up-and-down season like no other, the Orange have completed upset wins over ranked teams and puzzling losses to mid-major squads.
To end the year, one that was supposed to be a promising start for the next wave of Syracuse talent, SU takes on Wake Forest. In his criticism of name, image and likeness, a conversation he said in Pittsburgh he thought was off the record, Jim Boeheim singled out the Demon Deacons, who have just one more conference win than the Orange.
Here’s what our beat writers think will happen in Syracuse’s regular season finale against Wake Forest (18-12, 10-9 ACC).
Anish Vasudevan (22-8)
3-point shooting contest
Wake Forest 89, Syracuse 72
Boeheim said he’s tried everything to make the defense better over the last three weeks, but his efforts have only had the opposite result. In the past four games, Syracuse has made every opponent’s best shooters look like the next coming of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. The Demon Deacons, who have the second-best 3-point shooting percentage in the conference and have hit the most 3s in the ACC per game, will be the next team to take advantage.
The Orange have been great offensively but they need to be almost perfect to make up for how weak their defense is. Wake Forest is not strong on the defensive end either. It ranks third-worst in the ACC in scoring defense, but it should be able to do enough to stop SU when it matters. Unless Judah Mintz goes off for another four 3-pointers and Jesse Edwards revives the creativity down low he displayed in Boston, SU doesn’t have a chance to win an offensive battle. At least SU didn’t finish the season under .500.
Connor Smith (24-6)
Yes, it can still get worse
Wake Forest 97, Syracuse 77
Boy, did we all get that last game wrong. If you thought Georgia Tech — the 11th-best offensive team in the ACC, and the 10th-best 3-point shooting team — looked like an offensive juggernaut, wait until you see Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon. The Demon Deacons shoot at a top-25 rate nationally, rank second in the league from beyond the arc and third in points per game. Granted, they’ve lost three of their past four games, and haven’t topped 70 points in either of their past two games. But if we’ve learned anything about this Syracuse defense over the past two weeks, it’s that they can make any team look like they have an elite offense.
SU’s offense has been solid the past three games, but its defense has been abysmal. It’s something Boeheim took fault for on Tuesday, and while he finally ditched the 2-3 zone against Georgia Tech, it made no difference. Regardless of whatever defense Syracuse plays on Saturday, I expect Wake Forest to handle it with ease. Tuesday’s loss was certainly the low point in a season full of them (losing to Colgate and Bryant, Illinois by 30, Duke by 22, etc.), but between the Orange’s defense and Wake Forest’s shooting, I see no way Syracuse can keep up. The ceremony honoring the 2003 team, and the careers of Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick, will be nice, but the action on the court won’t.
Anthony Alandt (20-10)
(NIL) money buys happiness
Wake Forest 100, Syracuse 70
At least Boeheim is admitting that even he isn’t doing good enough this season. Georgia Tech’s game was a scathing indictment of the state of this program. From the moment it got moved off of network television, to the 53-point first half to the third straight game allowing at least 90 points, it’s clear the Orange just aren’t what they used to be. The defense has clearly been figured out, the offense is average at best and the 2-3 zone continues to allow a plethora of opposition three-pointers.
Enter Wake Forest, the 36th-ranked 3-point shooting team in the country. Boeheim said it best when he described the state of the Orange after Tuesday’s loss saying that the way they’re playing right now, they wouldn’t beat anyone. The Demon Deacons are no different. They are going to reign from deep, tear up the zone when Edwards presses up and break open a massive lead once Boeheim applies a panicked full court press.
This is about as close as this program has come to its first seismic change in almost five decades — the thumping to Georgia Tech, one of the worst teams in the ACC, showed that. It’ll come to a lackluster end Saturday evening, following up a historic jersey retirement with yet another abysmal loss and criticism surrounding the state of Syracuse basketball.
