Coming off two top-5 losses, Syracuse (18-10, 9-6 Atlantic Coast) gets a respite Saturday when it travels to perennial ACC bottom-dweller Wake Forest (11-16, 4-11). The Demon Deacons snuck by Miami on Tuesday night, 76-75, and have won two of their last three games.

Here’s what to know about WFU before Saturday’s noon tip-off.

All-time series: Syracuse leads 7-1

Last time they played: The Orange played WFU thrice last season: A loss in Winston-Salem, a win in the Carrier Dome and a win in the ACC Tournament. In that opening round of the postseason, SU won 73-64. Marek Dolezaj had his highest-scoring game of the season, dropping 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. He was joined by Tyus Battle, Oshae Brissett, Frank Howard and Paschal Chukwu in double figures.

The only WFU returner who scored double-digits that day was Brandon Childress, who had 11 points. The then-sophomore added four assists and four steals. Wake Forest was led by Bryant Crawford’s 22 points, but he’s since graduated and currently plays professionally in Israel.

The Wake Forest report: Childress returns as WFU’s leading scorer this season, and the Winston-Salem native is putting up 15 points per game for his hometown college. A 6-foot guard, Childress also contributes 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He’s knocked down 38.3 percent of his 3-pointers, the top mark on one of the country’s worst shooting teams from deep.

The Demon Deacons frontcourt is keyed by two players from France: 6-foot-8 Jaylen Hoard and the 7-foot Olivier Sarr. Hoard is second on WFU in scoring (13.8 points per game) and leads his team in rebounding at 8.0 per game. While he’ll shoot 3s, Hoard’s only made 20.8 percent of his shots from deep. Sarr is the best rim protector Wake Forest has, blocking one shot per game.

Beyond that, Chaundee Brown and Sharone Wright, Jr. pose the biggest scoring threats for Wake Forest, both as slashing guards who get to the rim. The Demon Deacons are coached by Danny Manning, who was National Player of the Year at Kansas in the ‘80s before being a No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick.

How Syracuse beats Wake Forest: Protect the defensive glass. While the Demon Deacons don’t shine in many areas, they are prolific offensive rebounders. They grab 34.1 percent of offensive boards, 31st in the country, per KenPom. And Syracuse is one of the 50-worst teams at allowing offensive rebounds, struggling to consistently box out of its 2-3 zone.

Wake Forest shouldn’t pose a shooting threat at most spots on the floor beyond the arc so before the shot goes up, SU will need to limit Childress. He’s the most susceptible to catching fire from deep and keeping WFU in the game. If the Orange can force other players to shoot, it’d take an usual shooting performance from the Demon Deacons to emerge on top.

Stat to know: 23.7 percent — The portion of Wake Forest’s points that come at the foul line, eighth-most in the country

KenPom.com odds: KenPom gives Syracuse a 77 percent chance to win, by a projected score of 72-64.

Player to watch: Brandon Childress, guard, No. 0

Childress rarely leaves the floor for Wake Forest. He’s overlooked by WFU associate head coach Randolph Childress, his father, and they’re the highest-scoring father-son duo in ACC history. He’s playing in his hometown of Winston-Salem. There’s a lot of fun narratives for Childress but the most important for Saturday’s game is this: He’s the Demon Deacons best 3-point shooter. For them to have a chance, he’ll need to get hot.

Published on March 1, 2019 at 12:32 pm

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3