Orange's sloppy play leads to 81-71 loss to Wake Forest

The final game of 2024 ends in the loss column

Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

In their ACC home opener, the Syracuse Orange (6-7, 0-2) gave away the game to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (10-4, 2-1) falling by a score of 81-71 this afternoon.

The Orange committed 18 turnovers and shot just 5-22 from beyond the arc as they lost their second home game of the season. Today’s game was decided from beyond the arc as Wake shot 6-12 in the second half while the Orange were 1-10 in the final 20 minutes.

Wake jumped out to a 17-2 lead with a bunch of easy looks at the rim while the Orange settled for midrange jump shots when they weren’t committing turnovers. Less than five minutes into the game and Autry had already pulled Chris Bell, Elijah Moore and Donnie Freeman for Kyle Cuffe, Jyare Davis and Lucas Taylor.

That group injected some life in the Orange with more effort on defense to close the gap to 23-18 with seven minutes to play in the half. Davis contributed 5 points and 5 rebounds while Cuffe was all over the floor on both ends and took over at point guard when Carlos picked up his 3rd foul.

Each time Syracuse closed the gap, Wake found a way to get Hunter Sallis the ball and the Orange found a way to throw the ball away. Thankfully Cuffe kept up his strong play finishing the half with 13 points, tying his career-high, as he went 8-9 from the line and added 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

At the break it was Wake with a 36-34 lead. In addition to shooting just 36.4% from the field, Syracuse committed 13 turnovers with some careless passing. Syracuse got into the bonus early and their 14-18 performance from the line kept them in striking range. It was the bench which had 25 of those 34 points in the first half.

Two free throws from Carlos tied the game at 38 and then Carlos found Freeman inside to give the Orange their first lead of the game with 16:30 to play. Fouls piled up quick as Syracuse went into the bonus with over 15 minutes to play. After taking a 47-41 lead, the Orange gave up back to back 3s leading to a quick Autry time-out.

Another Sallis 3 gave Wake a 50-49 lead but Carlos found Davis cutting through the Demon Deacons zone to quickly reclaim the lead. Wake kept fining the range from deep and the Orange missed two chances at the rim. Another Sallis jumper made it 55-51 Wake with 10 minutes to go and Juke Harris’ 2nd corner 3 of the half gave Wake a 6-point lead quieting the small, but up until that point active Dome crowd.

Lucas Taylor woke them up with his third 3 of the game as we headed into the under-8 timeout with Wake up 60-57. Turnovers re-appeared at the worst time as Wake took advantage of back-to-back giveaways to push their lead to 68-60 forcing another Syracuse timeout.

The Orange picked up their intensity on defense and two Taylor buckets followed by a free throw from Carlos cut the lead to 68-65 with 3:51 to play. A Chandler Hildreth 3 (Wake’s 6th of the half) stopped the Orange run and Syracuse responded with three straight misses. Wake put the game away from the foul line and it’s another game where the Orange couldn’t get out of their own way for large stretches.

Taylor and Carlos led the Orange with 16 points while Cuffe finished the game with 14 points. Eddie Lampkin had 8 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Bell and Elijah Moore were scoreless

Wake was led by Hunter Sallis’ 21 points and Cameron Hildreth’s 14, but it was Juke Harris’ 10 second-half points who kept them in it when they were in deep foul trouble. He hit two huge 3s when it looked like Syracuse was about to gain control of the game.

The Orange will be on the road to take on the Florida State Seminoles at 6:00 on Saturday night on the ACC Network