Syracuse 79, Wake Forest 54: Orange dominates the Demon Deacons in a dazzling victory

The Syracuse Orange ended their two-game losing streak with a much-needed victory over Wake Forest Demon Deacons by a final score of 79-54. The Orange played 40 minutes of dominant play, adding 19th wins to the season and 10 to the ACC.

The deacon demons began scoring with a three-ball bullet from Sharone Wright Jr, but Syracuse was able to respond with a few pails inside. The Orange were able to use its size to their advantage early, which included a successful lob passes from Elijah Hughes to Paschal Chukwu. Tyus Battle and Oshae Brissett started early, as they helped Syracuse to take a 13-9 lead in the less than 16-minute timeout.

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The Syracuse offense continued to appear more active at the start of the first half, with Hughes leading the attack by leading to the painting instead of settling for contested trios. The Orange have struggled to attack the track this season, but the known shooter Hughes changed the pitch by finding easy looks inside the rebound.

Brissett also brought energy early in the day, as he was able to find available spots in Wake Forest's defense to help Syracuse take a 26-17 lead with 9:33 to go. . The deacon demons tried to stop the Orange race with the three balls, but Battle did what he did best: score the ball. Syracuse's top scorer managed to cross Wake Forest's defense by 13 points in the first half as the Demon Deacons could not manage the talented junior scorer (Battle finished with 21 points that day).

Syracuse opened the lead with a 34-20 lead with 5:09 left, but an opportunity on a second chance allowed Wake Forest to finish with a 10-4 score, giving Orange a lead of 38-30 at the break.

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Wake Forest opened the second half on a 5-2 record, slashing the lead to five, but Battle pulled back his dominance in the first half in the second half. The 6-foot-6 guard responded to the Demon Deacons race with two consecutive jumpers, giving Syracuse a 46-35 lead, prompting coach Danny Manning to call for a timeout.

Wake's timeout could not prevent Syracuse's success as Frank Howard managed to find Hughes twice for a pair of thunder dunks. The Demon Deacons' defense played heavily in the half-court, allowing Hughes to use the backdoor cuts, leading to multiple successful lanes (Hughes finished with 18 points).

Syracuse took a 56-37 lead within the allotted time of less than 12 minutes, as his defense began to lock and smother the Wake Forest perimeter players. The Orange kept pace as her active hands allowed them to go out in transition and find easy looks, giving them a lead of 69-42 with 5:20 remaining. Simple looks are something they have missed of the season.

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The Orange sealed the deal by controlling the pace of the game, helping them defeat the Demon Deacons 79-54. The next game of the season is the last game of the season, while Virginia Cavaliers, No. 2, enter the Carrier Dome Monday night. The tricks of this game at 19h ET and will be on ESPN.