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Kyle Cuffe Jr. texted Adrian Autry following Syracuse’s 27-point loss to Maryland on Dec. 21. He let Autry know the basketball season is split into three sections: nonconference, conference and postseason play.

Autry took the advice to heart, he revealed Saturday following SU’s win over Bucknell. Based on Cuffe’s thinking, that game concluded the Orange’s first season and the second commenced Tuesday with Syracuse taking on Wake Forest. It provided Syracuse a chance to put a mediocre nonconference slate in the rearview mirror and head into the New Year on a positive note.

Though that didn’t happen. Syracuse (6-7, 0-2 Atlantic Coast) started off Autry’s theoretical second season with an 81-71 loss to Wake Forest (10-4, 2-1 ACC). The Orange had a dreadful shooting display, hitting a season-low 37.5% of their field goals and going 5-of-22 from beyond the arc. Lucas Taylor and Cuffe each had their best games of the season with 16 and 14 points, respectively, yet it wasn’t enough for Syracuse.

“For the most part, I thought our defense wasn’t a problem. I thought offensively, again, it comes down to making shots, and we didn’t make enough,” Autry said postgame.

Despite its wretched shooting display, the game was well within reach down the stretch. Jaquan Carlos split a pair of free throws to cut Wake Forest’s lead to 68-64 with 3:51 remaining. It was a complete 180 from SU’s last performance against Wake Forest, a 99-70 loss that forced Autry to apologize postgame.

Syracuse’s performance Tuesday didn’t garner another postgame apology. Instead, Autry boiled the blame down to two things: turnovers and missed free throws.

“We had too many turnovers, 18 turnovers the last three games. (We’ve had) 18-plus turnovers and unforced turnovers as well as scoring opportunities at the wrong time and missed free throws,” Autry said.

The giveaways and missed free throws (24-of-32) were costly in a game that didn’t look like it was going to be competitive early. Wake Forest raced out to a 16-2 start within the first four minutes due to its suffocating defense, which entered the contest letting up 64.9 points per game. WF started off by doubling Eddie Lampkin Jr. in the post and hedging hard on ball screens on the perimeter, keeping SU out of rhythm. It led to a 1-for-6 start and three turnovers.

“We have to figure this thing out. We can’t continually keep starting and digging ourselves holes,” Autry said about SU’s early deficit.

On the other end, the Demon Deacons hit seven of their first nine shots. Instead of playing through their leading scorer, Hunter Sallis, they spread the ball around. But eventually, Wake Forest went cold, hitting just three of its next 10 shots, which allowed a sleep-walking Syracuse back into the game.

Taylor ended a three-and-a-half-minute scoring drought for Syracuse with a 3-pointer to make it 19-6. Cuffe then got going, hitting a couple of 3s, leading to a career-high 13 first-half points.

Cuffe’s boost, part of a 40-point bench effort for SU, helped it slowly chip away at the deficit, even while it struggled to knock down shots. Syracuse started just 5-of-18 from the floor, but Lampkin knocked down two free throws to cut Syracuse’s deficit to 23-20 at the 5:02 mark.

Despite turning the ball over 13 times in the first half and shooting 36.4% from the field, Syracuse stayed well within striking distance for the rest of the half. Down five on its final possession, Donnie Freeman was fouled attempting a 3. The freshman converted all three free throws as Syracuse trailed 36-34.

Out of Syracuse’s nine players in the first half, Chris Bell and Elijah Moore were the only two players not to score. Their performances prompted Autry to sit them for the entire second half while letting Cuffe and Taylor get extended runs.

The lineup change helped Syracuse gain its first lead of the game less than four minutes after the break. Freeman converted a layup inside to put the Orange up 40-38 before Taylor slashed to the basket and finished through contact for an and-one. Eventually, the Orange built their lead to six points and seemed to have control of the game, though, over the final 13:51, Syracuse was outscored 40-24.

It started while two WF starters, Ty-Laur Johnson and Cameron Hildreth, were on the bench with four fouls early in the second half. Without Johnson and Hildreth for an extended period of time, Wake Forest raced back in front. It used a 1-3-1 zone defense to slow the Orange down while confidently letting it fly from deep.

Wake Forest came in as the worst Power Five 3-point shooting team in the country, according to KenPom. It hit just 26.5% of its triples on the season, but across the first 10 minutes of the second half, it hit five to gain a 58-52 lead. The Demon Deacons finished 9-of-19 from beyond the arc, while Syracuse only hit five on 22 attempts.

Juke Harris was one of the catalysts for WF’s second-half effort. The freshman hit two 3s and finished with 10 points, all of which came in the second half. With 5:40 time left, he stripped Petar Majstorovic, leading to an easy score for Hildreth. The bucket was part of a quick 6-0 run for Wake Forest, who increased its lead to 68-60. At that point, it was the Demon Deacons’ largest advantage since there were 10 minutes left in the first half.

Back-to-back scores from Taylor tried to push Syracuse toward a comeback, but its inability to create offense stymied those chances. The loss leaves Syracuse with more questions than answers as it heads into the new year. The Orange have yet to beat a Power Five team this season. Autry noted that a number of those games have been close. He’s not wrong, but good teams find ways to win games, and Syracuse has yet to do that this season.

Published on December 31, 2024 at 4:44 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22