67 - 57 WINSTON-SALEM, NC - On a night when Wake Forest needed to control the boards and shoot well to win, the Deacs did neither and succumbed to the second-ranked Syracuse Orange 67-57 Wednesday night. The Demon Deacons shot 18-53 from the floor and were out-rebounded 55-35 as both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket.
Freshman phenom Tyler Ennis scored 18 points, 16 in the second half, and senior forward C.J. Fair scored 16 and grabbed 8 rebounds to lead the Orange (20-0, 7-0 ACC). Syracuse nursed a 3-point lead at halftime following a Travis McKie 3-pointer that gave the Deacs some momentum at the break. However, Ennis took advantage of Codi Miller-McIntyre's foul trouble and erupted in the second half.
Wake Forest (14-7, 4-4 ACC) was led by McKie and sophomore Devin Thomas with 12 points apiece. No other Deacs cracked double figures, as the venerable Syracuse zone caused problems for Wake Forest all night. Miller-McIntyre's foul woes compounded the Deacs' problems, forcing coach Jeff Bzdelik to give ample minutes to freshman Miles Overton.
Miller-McIntyre finished with 4 points in 21 minutes of play before eventually fouling out. The Deacons and Orange combined to shoot a woeful 6-34 from beyond the three-point arc, while Wake's struggles from the free throw line continued (18-30).
Next up for the Deacs is a visit from Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon. Tip time is noon at Joel Coliseum.
