Buddy Boeheim’s best all-around game of the season carries Syracuse basketball

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team entered Saturday night’s game needing something to spark them. With the Antetokounmpo brothers sitting court-side it was Buddy Boeheim who took over in the second half against Wake Forest leading to a blowout win over the Demon Deacons.

Syracuse was trailing Wake 45-43 when Buddy went on an 8-0 run to put the Orange in front to stay. He had 19 of his 30 points in the second half of the game and when Wake Forest tried to help on him Buddy found open teammates. In addition to those 30 points, Buddy finished with 7 assists, one off his career high. Five of his dimes were also in Syracuse’s 55-point second-half explosion as he didn’t fall into the trap of forcing shots when covered.

As if that wasn’t enough Buddy was active on both ends of the floor with five rebounds, three assists steals and only one turnover. The 30 points were one off of Buddy’s career-high set in last year’s ACC Tournament and he did so without attempting a free throw- the first Syracuse player to accomplish that feat in over 50 years (h/t OrangeRay).

Buddy is now averaging 19.2 points per game against Wake which is highest total against any ACC school. It also pushed his all-time average in January games to 15.1 ppg which is second only to March among months. February has been Buddy’s worst scoring month as his average drops to 11.9 ppg but with Syracuse facing a lighter conference schedule than normal hopefully that number rises.

While his shooting numbers are down a bit from last season, Buddy’s scoring average is up to 19.4 ppg and his rebounding and assists per game are both up one over last year. He’s moved up to 2nd in the ACC in scoring behind Alondes Williams while remaining at the top in minutes played per game. If Syracuse is going to close out the season on a positive note he’ll need to keep up his play down the stretch.