THE BASICS
Syracuse hits the road again and travels to Winston-Salem for a Saturday night game against Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons are ranked 41st in KenPom, but have been struggling as of late - losing 4 of their last 6 (FSU, NC State, UNC, Pitt).
They have a lot of shooters and a big that is a load to handle in Efton Reid, they don’t play a lot of their bench, and they have one of the better offenses in the conference.
Both of these teams are outside of the NCAA bubble right now and a loss would be even more damaging to whoever ends up on the wrong side of this one.
This is one of the fewer semi-marquee wins available for Syracuse this season and KenPom gives them a 26% chance to get that elusive big victory.
After this one, Syracuse will host 3 straight home games (WED vs. Louisville, SAT vs. Clemson, TUES vs. UNC).
Keys for Syracuse?
Defend the 3 point line.
Contain Efton Reid.
Force turnovers and shoot free throws.
ABOUT THE DEMON DEACONS
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Shields on Hoops to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.