Orange Return To ACC Play Against Wake Forest

Game Details: Tuesday, Dec. 31, Syracuse, N.Y., 2 p.m.
TV: ESPN2
Live Coverage: Stats
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Wake Forest Links: Notes | News | Roster | Schedule

Syracuse (6-6, 0-1 ACC) closes out the calendar year Tuesday with its ACC home opener against Wake Forest (9-4, 1-1 ACC) at the JMA Wireless Dome. Tip-off between the conference foes is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the contest will be televised live on ESPN2.

Setting The Stage
The Orange capped off its non-conference slate Saturday with a 75-63 victory over Bucknell at the Dome. Eddie Lampkin Jr. (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Donnie Freeman (15 points, 11 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles, with Jaquan Carlos (11 points, nine assists) falling just one assist shy of a double-double himself.

The Demon Deacons last played on Dec. 21 against No. 25 Clemson, falling to the Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum, 72-63. Wake Forest sits at 9-4 on the campaign and is 1-1 in ACC play, with the victory coming against Boston College on Dec. 7.

Wake Forest is guided by head coach Steve Forbes, who is in his fifth season at the helm of the program. Forbes has led the Demon Deacons to a pair of NIT berths in his tenure and has won 20 or more games in two of the last three campaigns.

The Syracuse-Wake Forest Series
Syracuse leads the head-to-head series against the Demon Deacons, 11-4. However, Wake Forest has won the two most recent meetings between the teams, including a 99-70 victory in Winston-Salem a season ago. The Orange last defeated the Demon Deacons on March 4, 2023, at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Double-Double Duo
Lampkin and Freeman's double-doubles lifted Syracuse past Bucknell over the weekend. It was Freeman's fifth double-double of his freshman campaign and Lampkin's third of the season.

Lampkin reached his team-best 18 points on a 7-of-8 effort from the field. The graduate student also pulled down a game-high five offensive boards. Freeman went 5-of-10 from the field, which included a pair of triples, to finish with 15 points.

The win over Bucknell was the second time this season the duo recorded double-doubles in the same game, with the first coming in Syracuse's double-overtime victory against Youngstown State.

We'll Take That
Syracuse accumulated a season-high 13 steals as a team against Bucknell, with five different players racking up multiple takeaways. Carlos led the way with three, while Kyle Cuffe Jr., Jyare Davis, Elijah Moore and Lucas Taylor all produced two. It was the most steals for the Orange in 19 games since they had 14 against Clemson on Feb. 10, 2024.

Carlos Rising
Jaquan Carlos has been a stellar scorer and distributor in December, as the senior point guard is averaging 9.2 points and 6.8 assists in six contests this month. The senior recorded a 12-point, 12-assist double-double against Albany and backed that up with a season-best 15 points against Georgetown.

Carlos' double-double against the Great Danes was the first that included assists for Syracuse since Judah Mintz posted 10 points and 13 assists against Miami on Jan. 20, 2024. His 60 assists this season lead the Orange and rank No. 7 in the ACC.

After shooting just 11 free throws in the first eight games this season, Carlos has made 21 trips to the line in the last four contests. He has converted on 17 of those attempts, which included an 8-for-8 effort against the Hoyas.

Crashing The Glass
As a team, Syracuse grabs 38.4 rebounds per contest, the fifth most in the ACC. The Orange have a plus-4.4 margin on the season and have recorded double-digit offensive boards seven times on the campaign, which included 15 in their most recent outing versus Bucknell. Three different Syracuse players have pulled down 10 or more rebounds in a game this season – Freeman (six times), Eddie Lampkin Jr. (four times) and Jyare Davis (one time).

Scouting Wake Forest
Wake Forest won its first four games of the season, which included a neutral-court victory over Michigan. Three of the team's losses have come against ranked opponents - Florida, Texas A&M and Clemson. The Demon Deacons are 0-3 in true road games this season.

Hunter Sallis is Wake's leading scorer with 17.6 points per contest. Cameron Hildreth also averages double-figures (12.6) and has a team-best 46 assists. Tre'Von Spillers leads the Demon Deacons in rebounds with 9.3 per outing while also averaging 9.5 points.

Wake's leading 3-point shooter is Davin Cosby Jr., who has 24 makes on the campaign. The Demon Deacons rank No. 2 in the ACC as a team this season in blocks per game (4.46) and are the third best scoring defense in the conference, allowing just 64.9 points per contest.

Freeman, Lampkin Jr. Make Preseason Watch Lists
Freeman is one of 20 players to make the preseason watch list for the 2025 Karl Malone Award, which recognizes the top power forwards in Division I men's basketball. Freeman, a McDonald's All-American and the second-highest Syracuse recruit in program history, is one of two freshmen to make this year's Malone Award watch list.
Freeman is Syracuse's second leading scorer this season with 13.7 points per outing. He has five double-doubles in the team's first 12 games and has scored in double figures eight times.

Lampkin Jr. is one of 20 preseason watch-list candidates for the 2025 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, which goes to the top center in men's college basketball. Lampkin Jr. is in his first year with the Orange and is averaging 10.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest with three double-doubles.

The list for both awards will be narrowed to 10 in late January, and then to just five in late February. In March, the five finalists for both awards will be presented to Abdul-Jabbar, Malone and the Hall of Fame's selection committee where winners will be selected.

Orange fans are encouraged to participate in three rounds of Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, on hoophallawards.com.

Tickets
Syracuse men's basketball tickets are available online (cuse.com/tickets), by phone (1-888-DOMETIX) and at the Dome Box Office (Gate B).

For complete coverage of Syracuse men's basketball, follow the team on X (@Cuse_MBB) and Instagram (@cuse_mbb).

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Players Mentioned

Jaquan Carlos

Kyle Cuffe Jr.

Donnie Freeman

Eddie Lampkin Jr.

Judah Mintz

Elijah Moore

Lucas Taylor

Syracuse University Athletics