Wake Forest University
Syracuse
Wake Forest Falls To Syracuse 86-83 In Overtime
1/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
| Final Stats (PDF) 
By Nick Sebesta, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@TieDyeNation)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Konstantinos Mitoglou scored 26 points on Tuesday as Wake Forest pushed Syracuse to the brink but fell 86-83 in overtime.
Wake Forest (9-9, 1-4 ACC) led 37-36 at halftime and led Syracuse (13-4, 4-0 ACC) by as much as nine in the second half. With the Orange leading by three late in the second half, Cornelius Hudson hit a three-pointer as the teams went to overtime knotted at 71-71. Syracuse hit five late free throws in overtime and weathered a Wake Forest rally to win by three.
Mitoglou set a career-high in points and added six rebounds while going 10-for-13 from the floor with four three-pointers. Codi Miller-McIntyre recorded a season-high 24 points while chipping in six rebounds and six assists. Devin Thomas had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the year.
Syracuse jumped out to a 19-9 lead after a Rakeem Christmas jumper at the 13:17 make until Wake Forest went on a 12-2 run over the next five minutes. The run was spurred by eight points from Mitoglou as he hit two three-pointers plus a jumper. Thomas also had four points during the stretch as the Deacs took a 23-21 lead with 6:58 remaining.
The Orange took a late 33-30 advantage at the 2:58 mark though Mitoglou responded again with back-to-back buckets. Syracuse's Trevor Cooney nailed a long three-pointer with 1:25 left to put the Orange up 36-34 but Miller-McIntyre hit a buzzer-beating three from deep to give the Deacons a 37-36 lead heading into halftime.
In the second half, Wake Forest again caught fire as the Deacons went on a 13-3 run heading into the first media timeout at 15:57. Darius Leonard recorded back-to-back threes while Mitoglou had five points in that span.
Syracuse fought back to cut Wake Forest's lead to 50-49, forcing Wake Forest to take a timeout with 14:26 left in the game. The Deacons scored six-straight though Syracuse stormed back to tie it at 58-58 after a Tyler Robinson jumper at 6:42.
Mitoglou hit a three with 4:07 left to lift the Deacons to a 65-62 lead but Syracuse hit a three followed by a jumper to go up 67-65. It was the first lead for the Orange since the 19:50 mark of the second half. After each team exchanged free throws, Syracuse took a 69-68 lead into the final minute of play.
Michael Gbinije had two free throws to give Syracuse a 71-68 advantage until Cornelius Hudson converted a three with 14 seconds left to tie it up. Gbinije missed a layup with two seconds left as the teams headed to overtime.
Syracuse led 79-75 in overtime with 2:07 left, but Devin Thomas tallied a free throw and scored a layup to make it a one point game. Leading 84-80 with nine seconds left, Miller-McIntyre drilled a three-pointer to come within one. After Cooney converted just one free throw to push the Orange's lead to 86-83, Hudson shot a desperation three from half-court, only to have it circle the rim and out to end the game.
Notes
- Wake Forest played its first ever game in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. The two teams only met twice prior to Tuesday's game.
- It was the first overtime game for Wake Forest this season and the first since Dec. 7, 2013 vs. Richmond.
- Mitoglou had 16 of his points in the first half and was 6-for-6 from the floor. He also chipped in three rebounds and a steal in the frame.
- Wake Forest again proved to be a tough rebounding team as the Demon Deacons out-rebounded Syracuse 43-39.
- Mitoglou's 26 points were the most for a Deacon on the road this season.
- Wake Forest's bench again was key as the Deacon bench outscored the Syracuse bench 31-3.
- Tuesday's game was the first time two Wake Forest players have scored 20+ points since Travis McKie and Miller-McIntyre at Virginia Tech on Jan. 22, 2014.
Next Up
Wake Forest is idle next weekend before hosting North Carolina on Jan. 21. The Deacons beat the Tar Heels 73-67 at home last season. Next Wednesday's game vs. UNC will be televised live on ESPN2 or can be heard on the Wake Forest IMG Sports Network.
