WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – With a lone conference win against arguably the weakest team in the league to its name, Syracuse (12-7, 2-4 Atlantic Coast) buried Wake Forest (10-7, 1-4), 83-55, for its most lopsided victory of the regular season. Trevor Cooney led four Orange in double figures with 25 points, 19 of which came before the midway point of the first half. SU coasts into Cameron Indoor Stadium to play Duke on Monday with back-to-back wins after an 0-4 start in conference.

Here’s what we learned from a game that Syracuse never trailed.

Syracuse is improving on the glass

When Syracuse lost to Wisconsin in overtime on Dec. 2, Badgers forward Nigel Hayes said it’s not hard to rebound against a 2-3 zone. Syracuse only marks space so crash the gaps, he said. That was the Orange’s worst performance on the glass all season, grabbing only 25 rebounds to Wisconsin’s 51.

Foul trouble has thinned an already shallow Orange frontcourt at times, further exposing those rebounding deficiencies. But in the last three games, all in conference and one against a top rebounding team nationally in North Carolina, SU has won the battle on the boards.

On Saturday, the Orange grabbed 43 to Wake Forest’s 35 despite sitting its two centers with foul trouble for the majority of the second half. Tyler Roberson led the charge with 13 rebounds, seven on the offensive glass, and Michael Gbinije chipped in a personal season-high with eight.

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More Coverage:

• Jim Boeheim on win over Wake Forest: ‘We had by the far the best defense we’ve played this year’
• Syracuse basketball’s frontcourt handles foul trouble in rout over Wake Forest
• Trevor Cooney’s 25 points lead Syracuse in 83-55 romp of Wake Forest

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Chinonso Obokoh isn’t just a fill-in during foul trouble

Obokoh showed he could do more than just take up the middle of the back line in the zone. His stats won’t show it, Jim Boeheim said, and they didn’t, but Obokoh logged valuable minutes against one of the ACC’s best big men in Wake Forest’s Devin Thomas. On the sequence after Thomas scored with ease down low, Obokoh once again took the brunt of a back-down move but this time drew a travel.

Obokoh didn’t take a shot, but grabbed three rebounds, a block and a steal. He took a charge in the second half, to which Boeheim responded with a series of claps and Mike Hopkins with an extended clenched fist.

“Chino did a great job of just playing his role, helping us on the boards and being a defender inside,” Gbinije said. “I was very excited for him just because he doesn’t get as many opportunities as he might like.”

Frank Howard can impress when given more time

After Syracuse’s win over Boston College, Boeheim was said he didn’t see much from the freshman guard in the extended minutes he was given. He played 14 against the Eagles and though Boeheim was unimpressed, Howard got another 17 against the Demon Deacons.

This time, he drew praise from his head coach after a game in which Boeheim said everybody played well. Howard hit his first 3-pointer of the season, his only field-goal attempt on the afternoon, and made 2-of-3 free throws while relieving the load put on Gbinije and Cooney.

“Frank came in and did a really good job of getting the ball to people and finding the right open guys,” Boeheim said.

Published on January 16, 2016 at 4:58 pm

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