WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Coming straight out of halftime, Frank Howard glanced up and noticed Elijah Hughes darting toward the rim. Hughes left his mark in the corner and caught the Howard pass, slamming it home to set the tone of the second half. It was one of his two slams from Howard in the second half.

Syracuse (19-10, 10-6 Atlantic Coast) ended its two-game losing streak, downing Wake Forest (11-17, 4-12), 79-54. Junior guard Tyus Battle led all scorers with 21, but Hughes poured in a critical 18 points as the Orange all but secured their spot in the NCAA Tournament field.

Here are three takeaways from the Syracuse win.

Syracuse solidifies tournament resume

The win against Wake Forest won’t be near the top of the list of SU’s most significant wins of the season, but the victory guarantees the Orange will finish with a winning record in ACC play for the first time since 2017. Instead of needing an upset against Clemson on the final day of the regular season to get to eight conference wins like SU did last season, the Orange have reached 10 with two games to spare.

Even if SU loses its last two games, at home vs. Virginia and at Clemson (SU will be underdogs in both), the Orange are safe, thanks to Saturday’s win. All the Orange had to do was avoid a bad loss, and they did just that on Saturday. Bracketologist Patrick Stevens told The Daily Orange before the WFU game, “I think for the moment, Syracuse is in no real serious danger of falling out of the field.” That was then, and now, with no real opportunities for any more bad losses, SU can only add to its resume and try to improve its seeding in the final two games and the ACC Tournament.

Elijah Hughes more aggressive off the dribble

Jim Boeheim said that Hughes’ season has been defined by streaky shooting. On Saturday, Hughes relied on his dribbling and finishing inside the 3-point arc to aid the Syracuse offense.

“He’s got to be able to go by people, put the ball on the floor,” Boeheim said on Feb. 26 after the UNC loss. “People are going to push up on him. He’s a good shooter.”

On SU’s opening possession, Hughes made a crossover dribble through his legs, created separation and pulled up from 3. Despite no defender present to contest his 3, Hughes’ attempt came up well short, barely careening off the front rim.

From that point forward, Hughes attacked the paint. Just by getting his feet inside the 3-point arc, Hughes created for not only himself, but his teammates. First, Hughes got his feet inside the arc and lobbed to Paschal Chukwu for SU’s first points.

Later in the first half, Hughes used an explosive first step to beat his man and laid the ball in through contact for a three-point play. The next time down, Hughes scored again off the drive. Then, he cut backdoor along the baseline, finishing a reverse layup after Oshae Brissett fed him a bounce pass underneath. To open the second half, Hughes cut backdoor again, this time dunking a long lob pass from senior guard Howard.

He finished the afternoon with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting, despite shooting just 1-of-4 from 3.

Dominant second half stretch

After Sharone Wright Jr. made back-to-back baskets on the first two offensive possessions of the WFU second half, SU led by just 5. From that point forward, the Orange shut down the Demon Deacons, using stifling defense to produce efficient offense and open up a 67-39 lead, the largest of the game.

The 27-4 run lasted nearly 14 minutes, as Wake Forest was held without a field goal and to just four made free throws. SU took the ball inside offensively, as Battle, Hughes and Chukwu dominated the interior of the Wake defense, which is the worst 2-point defense in the ACC.

Published on March 2, 2019 at 2:02 pm

Contact Anthony: amdabbun@syr.edu | @AnthonyDabbundo