Wake Forest advances; Boeheim's long career at Syracuse ends

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Daivien Williamson drills go-ahead 3 for Wake Forest with 0.5 seconds left

Daivien Williamson buries the winning 3-point shot to secure Wake Forest's first win in this year's ACC tournament.

Mar 9, 2023, 09:03 pm

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- — Wake Forest guard Daivien Williamson made a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.5 seconds left but it was Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim who took the headline afterwards.

Boeheim’s 47-year tenure as coach at Syracuse came to awkward end on Wednesday, with the university saying Orange assistant Adrian Autry has been promoted to the job.

The move came less than three hours after Wake Forest beat Syracuse 77-74 in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

It was Wake Forest’s first conference tournament win since 2017.

Wake Forest (19-13), the No. 9 seed, advances to play top-seeded Miami in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The Demon Deacons had lost six straight games at the ACC Tournament and nine of their last 10.

Williamson grabbed a long rebound off a missed jumper by Joe Girard and handed it to teammate Tyree Appleby, who dribbled up the court and drew multiple defenders at the top of the key. Williamson was left open for a long 3-pointer and Syracuse was well short on a heave at the buzzer.

“We just had to go, we knew we ain't have no timeouts,” Williamson said in a TV interview. “Tyree made a great pass, I had confidence to knock it down and I did.”

Williamson finished with four 3-pointers and 17 points and Appleby had 15 points and 12 assists for Wake Forest. Bobi Klintman secured a double-double in the first half and finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Cameron Hildreth also scored 15 points and Andrew Carr had 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

Wake Forest scored the opening four points of the second half to take its first lead, 37-35, since it was 6-5. Appleby and Williamson each made a 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to cap a 17-1 run for a 54-42 lead. The run came during the Demon Deacons’ 21-7 start to the half.

Hildreth scored seven straight Wake Forest points to help build a 70-66 lead and he added a spinning shot in the lane with 36.2 seconds left to tie it at 74-all.

Benny Williams had 18 points, 11 rebounds and five steals and Judah Mintz added 18 points with seven assists for Syracuse (17-15). Jesse Edwards, coming off a 27-point performance on Saturday, was held to just two points in the first half and finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

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