Wake Forest University
Syracuse
Deacons Fall To No. 2 Syracuse 67-57
1/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2014
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By Gary Petit, Wake Forest Athletic Communications
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - No. 2 Syracuse made enough to plays down the stretch to hold off a game Wake Forest squad 67-57 Wednesday evening at the LJVM Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons fell for the first time at home this season and dropped to 14-7 overall and 4-4 in the ACC. Syracuse remained unbeaten at 20-0 and 7-0 in the conference.
Neither team had a particularly enjoyable night on the offensive end. All of the offensive stats were fairly even, but the big difference came on the boards as Syracuse held a 55-35 edge.
Senior Travis McKie led the Deacons on the night with 12 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Devin Thomas also finished with 12 points, five rebounds and one block.
For Syracuse, Tyler Ennis scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the second half. C.J. Fair finished with 16 points while Jerami Grant notched a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Deacons started a bit slow from the floor, making just one of their first nine shots. But the defense was up to the challenge on their other end, forcing 14-straight missed shots for the `Cuse. Arnaud William Adala Moto had a pair of lay-ins and finished a spectacular dunk over a Syracuse player to give Wake an 11-6 lead.
Behind Fair, Syracuse would respond with a 17-5 run over a six-minute span to take its largest lead of the first half at 25-17. Fair scored more than half of the points during the run. Sensing the game may be getting away, the Deacons finished the first half strong. The defense limited Syracuse to just one free throw over the final three minutes and McKie knocked-down a big three-pointer from the corner with five seconds left to trim the Orange's lead to 26-23 at the break.
Wake Forest cut the margin to one with a bucket to open the second half but Syracuse again rebounded with a run to shove the lead back out to eight at 40-32 with 14 minutes to play. A three-pointer by Coron Williams, and then a steal and lay-in by point guard Madison Jones pulled the Deacons within three at 40-37 and brought the energetic Coliseum crowd to its feet. Coming out of a Syracuse timeout, Williams had two chances to even the game with three-pointers but both shots fell off the rim. Those misses would prove costly as the `Cuse pushed the lead out to 46-39 with just under 10 minutes to play.
Despite cutting the deficit to five on three different occasions in the final nine minutes, Wake Forest wasn't able to get a big stop or bucket to get any closer. Syracuse made seven of its final eight free throws to seal the victory.
The Demon Deacons will conclude their three-game homestand on Saturday, Feb. 1, against Georgia Tech. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. from the LJVM Coliseum.
Notes
- Wake Forest trimmed the lead to five points at 54-49 with 4:10 left in the game, but Syracuse went on a 13-5 run in the next 3:31 to shut the door on the Deacons' upset bid.
- Wake Forest took care of the ball throughout the game, only committing eight turnovers. Coron Williams continued his streak of no turnovers in ACC play, with his last turnover coming on December 28 against Xavier.
- Arnaud William Adala Moto led Wake Forest in scoring in the first half with seven points, including an emphatic dunk early in the first half to get the home crowd on its feet. He finished with nine points and five rebounds.
- No. 2 Syracuse was the first No. 1 or No. 2 team to escape Joel Coliseum with a win since 2006. The previous three teams to come in ranked in the top two spots in the country left 0-3.
- Wake Forest's home winning streak was snapped at 13 games. It had been the third-longest in the ACC.
