Syracuse (11-9, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) looks to pick up its 12th home win of the season against Wake Forest (12-7, 3-4) on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. The Orange is coming off back-to-back road losses to then-No. 9 North Carolina and then-No. 15 Notre Dame and has lost three of its last four. The Demon Deacons have won back-to-back games against Miami and North Carolina State.

Here’s what you need to know about Wake Forest.

All-time series: Syracuse leads, 4-0

Last time they played: The Orange blew out Wake Forest on Jan. 16, 2016, by a score of 83-55. SU received a key contribution from Trevor Cooney, who went 6-of-11 on 3-pointers and racked up a game-high 25 points, 21 of which came in the first half. While Tyler Roberson (16 points), Michael Gbinije (15 points) and Tyler Lydon (11 points) carried Syracuse’s scoring, no Wake Forest player scored more than 10 points. The Orange beat the Demon Deacons with 30 points off 18 turnovers and 32 points in the paint.

The Wake Forest report: The Demon Deacons rank 36th in the country, according to Kenpom.com. Wake Forest has had just one winning season in the past six years and in head coach Danny Manning’s third season, the program is on pace for its best finish since 2009-10. After a stretch of losing four of five, Wake Forest has beaten Miami at home and N.C. State on the road, snapping a 25-game ACC road losing streak. Four players — sophomore power forward John Collins (16.6), sophomore point guard Bryant Crawford (14.7), redshirt sophomore guard Keyshawn Woods (13.3) and junior forward Konstantinos “Dinos” Mitoglou (10.4) — are averaging double-digit points per game this season.

How Syracuse beats Wake Forest: Tyus Battle, Andrew White and Lydon each must give the Orange another big performance. After losing to Notre Dame on Saturday, SU head coach Jim Boeheim said his team can’t win with just three players playing well. While the rest of Syracuse must pick up the slack, the Orange can’t afford a drop off from its top three players. Wake Forest is beatable — its 13th worst scoring defense in the ACC (75.6 points allowed per game) and its league-worst 44.9 field-goal percentage allowed speak to that — but only if SU plays up to its potential.

“White has come in and given them something that they needed this year,” Manning said. “… Tyler Lydon is playing great, and Battle — those three guys are doing the majority of the heavy-lifting in terms of scoring the points and playing minutes. So, we’ve got to make sure we know where those three are at all times.”

Stat to know: 119.0 — Wake Forest’s adjusted offensive efficiency rating, which ranks 13th nationwide, per Kenpom. That’s WFU’s highest ranking since leading the nation in 2004-05 with current NBA star Chris Paul.

Player to watch: John Collins, power forward, No. 20

Collins was named this week’s ACC Player of the Week after averaging 24 points on 17-of-22 field goals and eight rebounds per game in two wins this past week. He also ranks fifth in the conference with seven 10-rebound games this season. His points per game increase from 7.3 last year to 16.6 this year ranks third in the ACC. Collins also draws 7.5 fouls per 40 minutes, according to Kenpom, which ranks 17th in the country. Considering SU’s already-thin rotation, Collins has a chance to dent the Orange’s hopes for a 12th win on Tuesday night.

Published on January 23, 2017 at 11:56 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds