Five Takeaways: Syracuse 94 Wake Forest 72

What to make of the Orange's blowout win over the Demon Deacons.

Syracuse blew out a good Wake Forest team 94-72 Saturday night in the Carrier Dome. Here are five takeaways from the Orange victory. 

1. Buddy Buckets

Buddy Boeheim had really struggled the previous two games in Syracuse's losses at Duke and at Pittsburgh, going a combined 5-25 (20%) from three point range. Against Wake, he scored 30 points and made six of his 11 attempts from beyond the arc. He was fantastic shooting the basketball, but also did much more than score. Buddy also had a game high seven assists to go along with five rebounds and three steals. He was more active defensively and did not force shots offensively as a willing passer when double teams came. It was a superb all around performance and the team fed off of his play. 

2. Jesse Playing Through Foul Trouble

Less than two minutes into the second half, Jesse Edwards picked up his third foul. Head coach Jim Boeheim elected to leave him out there and he played more than 11 minutes of game time without picking up his fourth during which time Syracuse took complete control of the game. Seeing Edwards play through foul trouble and stay on the floor was a very encouraging sign. That, along with getting stronger, is a significant part of the next stage in his development. 

3. Defense

The Syracuse defense was not great in the first half and yes it gave up open looks in the second. However, it was active for most of the second half. That led to turnovers which created fastbreak opportunities. Syracuse forced 17 Wake Forest turnovers in all, 11 in the second half (the Orange only turned it over five times total for the entire game). Getting stops during that run that turned a three point deficit into a 20 point lead put the game out of reach. After scoring 42 points on 53% and 47% from beyond the arc in the first half, the Demon Deacons scored just 30 points on 42% shooting and 33% from three point range in the second. 

4. Bench

The bench gave Syracuse some strong minutes in the first half. Benny Williams played 10 and looked as comfortable as he has all season. He scored one point, grabbed three rebounds and had a steal while playing solid defense. This comes after head coach Jim Boeheim said he had his best practice of the year on Thursday. Encouraging. Symir Torrence returned from injury and played six first half minutes, dishing out two assists and scoring two points. Frank Anselem was really good, scoring seven points and grabbing six rebounds in 17 quality minutes. Neither Symir nor Benny played in the second half, and Frank only did after Edwards picked up his fourth foul. Boeheim said after the game that was not the plan, but the starters were in such a rhythm building that big lead he did not want to disrupt the momentum and give Wake any chance to get back in it. That makes perfect sense. The big takeaway is that the bench looked as good as it has all season. 

5. This Is Who We Thought They Were

This Syracuse team is going to give up open shots at times and they did against Saturday night. However, the defense was active, got deflections and forced turnovers. Offensively, Syracuse moved well, shared the basketball and got good looks for just about everyone. The Orange made 10 threes but also scored 42 points in the paint. The second half, especially, was the best basketball this team has played all season and what most expected them to be all year. The big question moving forward: was. this a one-off performance or a turning point to how Syracuse plays the rest of the season?