Behind a combined 43 points from Buddy Boeheim and Elijah Hughes, Syracuse defeated Wake Forest 75-73 in the Carrier Dome on Saturday night. The Orange led by as many as 16 points but after three players fouled out, SU clung to a lead while playing two freshmen guards and a freshman center. 

In the end, it was one of the freshmen. Brycen Goodine, who’s played sparingly in conference play, grabbed a Hughes miss and flushed in a layup. The 6-foot-3 guard’s scoop and score sealed the game for Syracuse with less than two seconds remaining.

Foul Trouble 

Against Clemson, Syracuse’s mainly seven-man rotation was exploited when the Orange reached foul trouble at the forward position. Ideally, Syracuse plays three players  — Marek Dolezaj, Bourama Sidibe and Quincy Guerrier — among the two forward spots. But when the forwards reach three fouls early in the game and inevitably foul out after the rough start, things begin to derail for Syracuse. 

In South Carolina, that led to a loss in a game Syracuse had been winning prior to foul-outs from both Sidibe and Dolezaj. Against Wake Forest, foul trouble forced Syracuse to take Guerrier out amid a 10-point shift and replace him with Sidibe. After another Sidibe foul, freshman Jesse Edwards entered the game. 

Many of the fouls came far from the basket. Both Guerrier and Sidibe fouled a Wake Forest player on the offensive end of the floor and other times fouled ball handlers, not shooters, near the 3-point arc or further. 

Guerrier’s final foul came with more than eight minutes to play as he reached for an offensive rebound and hit a Wake Forest player in the eye. On the next possession, Sidibe fouled out. The junior center tried to contest a dunk but instead bodied a Demon Deacons big man. With 8:40 left, Syracuse had to play Edwards for the remainder of the game. 

Things only worsened for the Orange from there. Dolezaj picked up his fourth personal foul while hooking the arm of Wake Forest’s Olivier Sarr. The foul was a technical and resulted in two free throws for Sarr and WFU possession. By the end of the possession, the Demon Deacons had their first lead since leading 4-2 early in the game. 

A few possessions later, it appeared as if Dolezaj had secured the ball for Syracuse along the baseline on the defensive end. But the refs ruled him out of bounds. Dolezaj pleaded with the refs to look at the video replay. They didn’t. Instead, the junior forward received a technical foul, his fifth personal of the game, and Goodine subbed in for Syracuse

Quincy’s quarter 

Syracuse’s coaches want Guerrier to be physical. The Orange coaches have expected their heaviest player to be a dominating force down low, but he hasn’t always been. Guerrier’s often said it’s about understanding his positioning better so he can be in the proper spot to rebound.

He was in the right spot on Saturday but perhaps more importantly, he asserted himself. Guerrier consistently drove to the hoop and initiated contact. The first time he did so, the layup didn’t fall. The freshman forward from Canada shook his head before sinking both free throws. 

The next two times Guerrier had the ball beneath the basket he was fouled again. He sank his layups despite contact. After the second time he was fouled and the layup bounced in off the backboard, Guerrier sat on the floor and screamed. In that moment, he looked like the aggressor Syracuse has wanted. 

He initially came in because Sidibe was in foul trouble with two fouls through less than 10 minutes. But Guerrier, as he has many times this year, had similar troubles. After scoring 10 points in roughly eight minutes of play, he left the game with three fouls with more than two minutes remaining in the first half. 

Steady Boeheim 

When Syracuse needed a play on Saturday, Buddy came through. First, on the offensive end, Buddy dashed down the court, caught a pass on the break and finished a layup. The next Wake Forest possession, Buddy snatched a steal and the play resulted in two free throws for Syracuse.

As Syracuse trailed Wake early in the game, it was Buddy who bailed Syracuse out. Buddy hit three 3-pointers in a span of less than four minutes as a part of a 13-0 Syracuse run.

Per usual, Buddy hit from the outside while also dribbling in for a few pull-up jumpers and earning trips to the free-throw line. He finished with a game-high 23 points. 

Published on February 8, 2020 at 10:27 pm

Contact Josh: jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44