Syracuse and Wake Forest are set for a rapid rematch Wednesday when they meet for the second time in five days, this game coming in the second round of the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C.

The eighth-seeded Orange (17-14, 10-10 ACC) need to win the ACC tournament — something they have never done before — in order to reach the NCAA Tournament. The ninth-seeded Demon Deacons (18-13, 10-10) likely are in a similar boat as they seek their first ACC tourney crown since 1995.

The teams certainly are familiar with each other, having faced off Saturday in a 72-63 home triumph for Syracuse. Jesse Edwards stole the show with 27 points, 20 rebounds and five steals in a spectacular Senior Night performance.

“It’s all about keeping momentum, make sure the team stays focused on the next game,” Edwards said. “I know we’re all excited. … (Just) trying to go out there (Wednesday) and play our game the way we played (Saturday).”

Wake Forest obviously will try to come up with a new plan for guarding Edwards, but Syracuse will be equally focused on ACC first-team guard Tyree Appleby (18.8 points, 6.3 assists). He had 21 points and eight assists on Saturday as the Demon Deacons lost for the fourth time in five games.

“I thought we did a poor job of getting 50-50 balls,” Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes said. “There’s a lot of those we just don’t get in that game like this. It just really hurts you. And so we’ll go back and take the day off — which we need — and we’ll get ready to play Wednesday in the ACC tournament.”

Syracuse, which is 11-2 all-time against Wake Forest, had lost four games in a row prior to Saturday’s victory. Each of those defeats came by at least 17 points.

“Obviously beating a team back-to-back is difficult, especially a team like Wake Forest,” Orange guard Judah Mintz said. “But we’ve seen what they like to do, and obviously they’re gonna try to make adjustments. We’ll do the same.”

–Field Level Media

Harvard forward Chris Ledlum plans to transfer, ESPN reported Tuesday.

Ledlum averaged 18.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in 2022-23. The 6-foot-6 senior averaged 16.7 points and 9.3 boards per game in 13 games last season.

“High-majors have had his name circled all season,” ESPN reported.

Ledlum had 11 games with 20 or more points in 2022-23, including a 35-point, 13-rebound effort in a 73-56 win over Cornell on Feb. 18.

The Brooklyn, N.Y., native was a four-star recruit and chose Harvard over Vanderbilt and Notre Dame out of St Peters Boys School in Staten Island, N.Y.

–Field Level Media

Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s are assured of single-digit seeds in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, but that won’t diminish the importance or the intensity on Tuesday night when the fierce rivals meet in the West Coast Conference tournament championship game in Las Vegas.

The No. 9-ranked Bulldogs and No. 16 Gaels split two regular-season meetings, so the title game will convey as bragging rights as well as one last chance to add a solid win to the resume.

“We kind of have a respected hatred for each other,” Gonzaga star Drew Timme said. “We don’t like each other, but at the same time we respect each other.”

Top-seeded Saint Mary’s (26-6) reached the final for the sixth time in eight seasons with a 76-69 victory over fifth-seeded BYU. Second-seeded Gonzaga (27-5) is in the title contest for the 26th straight season after posting an 84-73 win over sixth-seeded San Francisco.

The Bulldogs now have reached the championship game in all 24 of Mark Few’s seasons and are 18-5 in those contest entering the Tuesday matchup. Saint Mary’s has won three WCC tournament titles under coach Randy Bennett, the most recent coming in a 60-47 victory over Gonzaga in 2019.

“It’s going to be a battle,” Bulldogs forward Ben Gregg said after scoring 12 points against the Dons. “We know it will be a hard-fought game. We will have to put our hard hats on.”

Saint Mary’s led by as many as 26 points in its semifinal contest before holding off BYU in the final minute. Alex Ducas led the way with 23 points and seven rebounds.

The Gaels never trailed, but BYU put together a dazzling 39-16 dash to cut the deficit to three. Kyle Bowen’s layup with 27.7 seconds left helped Saint Mary’s hold on.

“We played well for probably the first 25 minutes and then lost focus a little bit,” Bennett said. “They got some momentum, and that gave them some hope, and it was a two-possession game. We need to get better at closing out things and handling things a little more mature as far as when it gets testy.”

The contest was the Gaels’ first of the tournament, and Ducas could feel a little rust.

“(BYU) had two games before us and this was our first one, so it felt good to grind one out and put us in the right spot for the next game,” Ducas said. “It shows a lot of experience from the guys. Not the way we wanted to win, but we’ll take it.”

Aidan Mahaney added 18 points for the Gaels, and it’s safe to say the freshman standout will be circled brightly on Gonzaga’s scouting report.

When Saint Mary’s registered a 78-70 home overtime win against the Zags on Feb. 4, Mahaney scored 16 of his 18 points after halftime. He scored eight points — on four drives for layups — in a 97-second span late in regulation.

The Bulldogs won the rematch 77-68 on Feb. 25 on their home floor. Timme scored 19 points and Anton Watson had 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals.

Watson was a force on Monday, producing 20 points and seven rebounds against San Francisco. The Bulldogs never trailed and led by as many as 15 in the first half before the Dons moved within two in the second half. Gonzaga then re-established control.

Timme needs five points to surpass Frank Burgess (2,196 from 1958-61) as Gonzaga’s all-time leading scorer. Burgess played three seasons while Timme is in his fourth season.

“That’s been standing for a long time,” Timme said of the record. “If I score zero points and we win, I’d be the happiest guy around. That’s all I care about.”

–Field Level Media

Anton Watson recorded 20 points and seven rebounds to help No. 9 Gonzaga notch a wire-to-wire, 84-73 victory over San Francisco on Monday night in a West Coast Conference semifinal matchup at Las Vegas.

Drew Timme had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the second-seeded Bulldogs (27-5), who won their eighth consecutive game. Julian Strawther scored 15 points and Ben Gregg had 12 on four 3-pointers.

Gonzaga will face top-seeded Saint Mary’s (26-6) in Tuesday’s WCC title game. The teams split two regular-season meetings.

It will be the Bulldogs’ 26th straight appearance in the championship game, including all 24 seasons of Mark Few’s head-coaching stint.

San Francisco star Khalil Shabazz made six 3-pointers and scored 26 points. Tyrell Roberts had 17 points and Marcus Williams added 11 points and seven rebounds for the sixth-seeded Dons (20-14).

Timme is five points away from surpassing Frank Burgess (2,196 from 1958-61) as the Bulldogs’ all-time leading scorer. Burgess played three seasons while Timme is completing his fourth.

Gonzaga shot 48.2 percent from the field, including 11 of 26 (42.3 percent) from 3-point range.

San Francisco made 40.3 percent of its shots and was 14 of 37 (37.8 percent) from behind the arc.

The Dons trailed by as many as 15 in the first half, but Roberts and Williams hit 3-pointers as the Dons crept within 56-54 with 11:59 left in the game.

San Francisco missed three shots that would have put them on top over their next two possessions, and Gonzaga finally answered with six straight points to boost its lead to eight.

San Francisco were within six again with six minutes to go, but Watson’s basket and four straight points by Strawther made it 76-64 with 4:03 left.

Roberts drained a trey to pull the Dons within nine with 2:38 left before the Bulldogs pushed the lead back to 14 on two free throws by Hunter Sallis with 62 seconds left while closing it out.

Watson scored 13 first-half points as Gonzaga led 43-35 at the half. Shabazz had 14 in the half for the Dons.

–Field Level Media