Observations from SU’s blowout loss to Wake Forest: 3-point defense, Mintz adapts

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The Tobacco Road hasn’t been kind to Syracuse this season.

In the past month, the Orange were blown out by both Duke and North Carolina, being outscored 189-133. When NC State came to the JMA Wireless Dome, SU had more success, picking up a double-digit. But once it had to go back down to the Tar Heel State, this time to face Wake Forest.

The Demon Deacons put on a show, shooting 66% from the field, the highest mark for them this season. But this had the potential to be uglier as Judah Mintz evidently was the only Syracuse player to show up offensively. While he finished with 13 points, the rest of the team shot 31% as SU had its second-ugly loss of the week.

The Orange seemed powerless to stop Wake’s star scorer Hunter Sallis, who scored 24 points through his 3-point shooting and smooth offense leading his team to a 14-point lead at halftime. The bleeding continued in the second half with the Demon Deacons reaching the double bonus with over nine minutes to go into the game.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (14-8, 5-6 Atlantic Coast) 99-70 blowout loss against Wake Forest (14-7, 6-4 ACC):

Judah adapts

For nearly every game this season, Mintz has made his way to nearly 20 points every game by being aggressive and driving to the basket. Mintz’s aggressiveness typically leads to him drawing contact and then going to the free throw line. But the Demon Deacons weren’t fooled.

Wake Forest kept Mintz on the outside and limited any contact as SU finished with just 19 free throws. But Mintz knew how to adapt.

He could still make offense happen on the fastbreak, stealing the ball early on and finishing with a one-handed slam. But he started to show off his shooting acumen, stepping into an early 3-pointer to tie the game at seven apiece. Later in the half, Mintz rose above Kevin Miller for a jumper even as the game started to slip away from the Orange. The guard nailed a jump shot from the right baseline to end the half on a semi-positive note, but SU still trailed by 14.

While Mintz went into tonight with the third-most free throw attempts in the country, he proved that he could hit tougher, long range shots, finishing 5-of-9 from the field.

But Mintz walked off the floor dejected as his team couldn’t stop the Demon Deacons on the defensive end, especially from long range.

Can’t stop the 3s

Throughout January, Syracuse’s 3-point defense was improving. In the six games following the loss to then-No. 7 Duke, the Orange held all opponents to under 40% in 3-point shooting. But a defeat to Boston College on Tuesday ended that streak and the loss to Wake Forest continued a new streak of getting dominated beyond the arc. The loss was the sixth time in the season that the Orange allowed more than 10 3s.

Gonzaga transfer Sallis hit a 3-pointer to make the score 15-7, forcing SU head coach Adrian Autry to call a timeout early in the first half. At that point, the Demon Deacons were already 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Minutes later, Andrew Carr was triple-teamed, but found Sallis alone and the guard hit another triple.

Anytime the Orange tried to create some momentum, the Demon Deacons nailed a 3-pointer to stop them in their tracks. J.J. Starling hit a 3-pointer from the left wing. But Wake Forest quickly got back down to the other end and Carr buried a deep shot from the exact same spot on the other side of the floor to put its lead back up to 21.

Later in the half, Parker Friedrichsen and his teammates sped up the pace to catch the dejected and jogging SU players off guard. After Carr couldn’t find anything down low on the fast break, he kicked out to Friedrichsen on the baseline and the guard buried the shot from the right corner to make the score 79-52. With just under five minutes remaining in the bludgeoning, Miller threw a no-look pass to Sallis, who scored on the open 3 on the fastbreak.

It was undoubtedly a clinic for Wake as even Italian guard Abramo Canka made his first 3-pointer of the season to push the point total to 99. The Demon Deacons ended the night with 12 3-pointers, the most Syracuse has allowed since Dec. 2 against Virginia.

At least Taylor tried

Heading into today’s game, Taylor had been going through a shooting slump. He last hit a 3-pointer on Jan. 16 against Pittsburgh. Taylor finally ended the streak against the Demon Deacons with a contested 3-pointer early in the second half. The shot reflected an iffy game from Taylor, who besides Mintz and Starling was the only player to reach double figures. Taylor finished the game with 10 field goal attempts, tied for the most on the Orange.

In the opening 20 minutes, the forward struggled mightily from deep as he morphed into a downright liability on offense. Midway through the half, he had three 3-point attempts in less than a minute.

With six and a half minutes to go in the half, Taylor had three 3-point attempts, all of which missed the mark. As Wake Forest embarked on an 8-0 run, Taylor bricked his first 3-point attempt in that span. Once the Demon Deacons went up 15, he missed another 3-point shot. After Copeland blocked a Wake Forest shot, Taylor missed again.

To start the second half, Taylor quickly caused a foul. But he improved from there. After making his first 3, he scored on the right wing and later hustled for a steal and ensuing layup to bring his total to eight points. Even when he was missing against Wake Forest, Taylor still seemed unafraid to take shots. He finished the game with 10 points, the third-most on the team.