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The Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament has been defined by its parity over the last decade. Seven different schools have won the tournament, and an eighth could’ve done so in 2020 before it was canceled by the pandemic.

Syracuse, though, hasn’t gotten in on the fun. In fact, they’ve never really gotten close.

Since joining the league in 2013-14, the Orange have never advanced past the quarterfinal round. SU did sit out the trip to Greensboro, North Carolina in 2015 due to a self-imposed postseason ban, but over the seven tournaments it has competed in, SU holds a 5-7 record. Pitt and Notre Dame — which joined the ACC the same year — have achieved more success, with the Panthers advancing to the semifinals in 2014, and the Fighting Irish playing in two championship games.

So how can that change this year, when the Orange (17-14, 10-10 ACC) need a deep run — likely the title trophy itself — to extend their season? They’ll open play Wednesday afternoon against Wake Forest, a team they just beat by nine, with a win drawing top-seeded Miami, which took down SU 82-78 in January. They have just a 0.7% chance of winning the conference title, per KenPom. The winning formula, according to players and coaches, revolves around active defense, the emergence of a fourth scoring option, attention to detail and making plays down the stretch — all things Syracuse has struggled with this season.

“It’s all about keeping momentum, make sure the team stays focused on the next game,” Jesse Edwards said Saturday. “I know we’re all excited. … (Just) trying to go out there, play our game the way we played today.”

Syracuse has developed a reputation of putting together mediocre regular seasons and flailing in the conference tournament before pulling off surprising NCAA Tournament runs. The surprise of a complex 2-3 zone can explain those runs, as can a simple offense and pregame scouting process. Jim Boeheim focuses largely on eliminating opponents’ top few sets, and keying in on shooters. (Judah Mintz said SU has focused in practice on finding shooters over the last week, and Boeheim noted last Tuesday that the Orange have almost exclusively practiced their defense over the last three weeks.) Offensively, Syracuse lets its top players make plays.

ACC teams, though, are used to seeing that. So even while the 2-3 zone improves throughout the season (though maybe not this one) opponents still know how to beat it during the postseason.

Syracuse’s win Saturday, however, provided a blueprint for how the Orange can win. SU played its best defense in weeks, holding Wake Forest to a 25.6% shooting clip from 3-point range, and forcing 16 turnovers. Boeheim was impressed with Edwards’ ability to take away the high post, which limited WF’s ability to play inside-out. Demon Deacons head coach Steve Forbes said postgame they struggled trying to feed their centers over the top of Edwards.

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The perimeter defense also forced tougher 3-point looks than it had in recent losses, Boeheim said, forcing Wake Forest to fire off-balance attempts. The Demon Deacons missed 11 of their first 12 3s, and Joe Girard III said Syracuse did a better job of closing out and moving shooters off their spots.

Boeheim said the Orange’s strong defense Saturday outweighed their poor shooting. They shot only 2-for-14 from 3-point range, with Girard and Mintz combining to go 11-for-32 from the field.

Edwards, meanwhile, had one of the best games of his career, tallying 27 points and 20 rebounds. Syracuse saw a matchup it liked against 6-foot-10 center Andrew Carr and went after it early and often. Carr fouled out with over 11 minutes left, forcing Wake Forest to play small.

“Obviously beating a team back-to-back is difficult, especially a team like Wake Forest,” Mintz said. “But we’ve seen what they like to do, and obviously they’re gonna try to make adjustments. We’ll do the same.”

Mintz has primarily been the player Boeheim has trusted with the ball in late-game situations this season. That didn’t work out particularly well against Miami or North Carolina, but it paid off in the NC State win. The freshman said Syracuse needs to make plays late in games this week. The Orange are 5-7 in games decided by seven points or less, and have come up just short against the ACC’s top teams, some of whom they’ll need to beat in Greensboro to continue a run.

Postgame Saturday, Boeheim talked about who the Orange can turn to besides Edwards, Girard and Mintz for scoring production in Greensboro. “We just haven’t been able to find somebody in that spot,” the coach explained. He said Chris Bell, who didn’t appear against Georgia Tech or Pitt, has made shots in practice — including a stretch last Friday when he sunk four tough 3s in a row — but that hasn’t transferred into games.The freshman shot 1-for-6 on Saturday, and his lack of rebounding (just 1.8 per game) and inconsistency has led to on-and-off minutes. But when hot, Bell has proven to be a difference-maker in SU’s lineup.

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Another potential option has been Quadir Copeland, who Boeheim said has played like a “monster” in practice, but the opposite of that in games. Copeland scored 20 straight points against the first team in practice last week, but has tallied just 13 in-game points since the New Year. Boeheim said Copeland has taken too many jump shots, and stood around too much on offense, while in practice he attacks the rim successfully and rebounds well. He’s averaged nearly 14 minutes over the last three games, after rarely appearing in nonconference games.

“He’s so much better than he’s shown,” Boeheim said of Copeland. “It’s just time. He needs time.”

Heading into Wednesday’s rematch, Syracuse wants to avoid two straight years without a postseason berth for the first time since 1969-70. Forbes said the quick turnaround benefits the Demon Deacons since they have a chance to fix their mistakes — like not drawing Edwards away from the basket, and failing to get the ball into the middle of the court or penetrate inside. Mintz said he expects Wake Forest to play better, but thinks SU will also hit more 3s than it did Saturday.

Boeheim has said all season that the team has more work to do. Now in March, the culmination of the work they have put in will be displayed starting Wednesday, and potentially for days afterward, too.

“We just got to go down to Greensboro and work on our game, see what we can do,” Boeheim said. “You never know.”

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Published on March 6, 2023 at 10:30 pm

Contact Connor: [email protected] | @csmith17_