Orange Drop Road Game to Wake Forest

Saturday, February 28

Winston-Salem, NC

5:45 PM

Syracuse University

15-14,6-10ACC

Wake Forest

15-14,6-10ACC

Syracuse

Wake Forest

2/28/2026 8:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Nate Kingz Interview Sadiq White Interview Photo Gallery

Despite a career-high 28 points from Donnie Freeman, Syracuse (15-14, 6-10 ACC) fell to Wake Forest (15-14, 6-10 ACC), 88-83, at the LJVM Coliseum on Saturday night.

Junior Naithan George scored his 1,000^th career point while posting a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists. Senior Nate Kingz tacked on 20 points and made five 3-pointers, tying a season-high. Freshman Sadiq White Jr. scored a new high in ACC-play with 12 points. The Orange hit a season-high 13 3-pointers on 13-of-26 (.500) shooting from beyond the arc.

Wake Forest's Myles Colvin scored a game-best 32 points on 9-of-12 (.750) shooting, including seven 3-pointers. Tre'von Spillers scored 16 points in the effort.

How the Game Was Decided
Syracuse used a brief run to cut into the Wake Forest lead, 82-77, with just under three minutes to go. Sebastian Akins padded the Demon Deacons' lead with a driving layup, pushing the score to 84-77.

Kingz converted a free throw and Freeman drove in a layup to bring Syracuse within 84-80 with 1:07 remaining, but the Orange couldn't get any closer. After Freeman's layup, Syracuse forced a miss, only for Schwieger to snare the offensive rebound and convert the putback to push the lead to 86-80 with 31 seconds left. Freeman missed a layup on the ensuing possession and Wake Forest grabbed the rebound to seal it.

Early Triples
The Orange offense found its rhythm early from beyond the arc, scoring 12 of their first 16 points via the 3-pointer.

Freeman got things started with a triple, and Kingz followed a couple of possessions later by rattling home one of his own. Kingz drilled another two minutes later to give Syracuse a 9-5 lead with just under 16 minutes remaining in the half.

A pair of jumpers kept the offense rolling before Freeman capped off the first eight minutes with his second triple, pushing the Orange ahead 16-14 at the 12:07 mark. Syracuse was 4-of-8 (.500) from beyond the arc over that stretch.

The Orange kept it going from 3-point range, with Kingz connecting on his third 3-pointer of the half and White Jr. adding another at the 8:34 mark to stretch the lead to 24-16. White Jr. hit a 3-pointer again with just under seven minutes to go, then grabbed an offensive rebound and threw down a dunk to give him eight points in the half.

Orange and Demon Deacons Trade Runs to Close the First
Wake Forest's Colvin hit a 3-pointer with five minutes left to tie the game at 29 apiece. Following the Wake Forest triple, Syracuse went on an 8-0 run in under one minute, fueled by a Freeman and junior Naithan George 3-pointer. George added a layup to cap the run and give Syracuse a 37-29 advantage.

Wake Forest responded with six unanswered points to cut the Orange lead to just two points. The teams traded shots down the final minutes of the half, with the Orange taking a 46-42 lead into the break.

Freeman led the Orange with 15 points on 5-of-7 (.714) shooting with three 3-pointers. Kingz connected on four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Syracuse hit on 10-of-18 (.556) shots from 3-point range in the first half.

Trading Blows to Start the Second
The Orange and Demon Deacons traded blows through the opening stages of the half, with Syracuse maintaining a lead it couldn't quite extend.

Kingz provided five points in the stretch, while George chipped in a pair of free throws and White Jr. added a bucket in the paint to push the advantage to 58-54. White Jr. then threw down an alley-oop dunk from a feed from George to make it 60-56.

Wake Forest chipped away, pulling within 62-58 on a pair of 3-pointers from Colvin. The Demon Deacons then seized momentum, with Colvin connecting again from deep before Juke Harris followed with another 3-pointer to flip the score to 64-62 with 10:28 remaining. The Colvin triple was his seventh of the game without a miss.

Down the Stretch
The Orange trailed the Demon Deacons, 66-65, with just under 10 minutes to go. Wake Forest used a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 72-65 and keep the Orange at arm's length.

Senior J.J. Starling got the Orange back on the board, but Wake Forest matched it with a Tre'von Spillers layup. Syracuse continued to make shots, with senior William Kyle III making three free throws, Freeman hitting a layup and George knocking down a jumper.

Freeman hit a jumper through a foul and connected on a free throw to cut the deficit to 82-77 before the decisive late run from the Demon Deacons.

Notable Numbers

Syracuse scored 17 points off turnovers compared to Wake Forest's 11.
The Orange shot 17-of-32 (.531) from the field in the first half.
George had 10 assists with just two turnovers.
Freeman and Kingz were a combined 7-of-11 (.636) from 3-point range in the first half.
Freeman led the Orange in rebounding for the 12th time this season, grabbing five against Wake Forest.
Syracuse shot 14-of-17 (.824) from the free throw line, the fifth time the Orange shot over .800 from the charity stripe this season.
Wake Forest outrebounded Syracuse, 30-18.

Up Next
Syracuse stays on the road next week when they take on Louisville on Tuesday evening. The matchup with the Cardinals is set for a 9 p.m. tip off and will air on ACC Network.

Syracuse Tickets
Season and individual tickets are available at cuse.com/feature/basketball-tickets