The Syracuse Orange basketball team suffered a blowout loss to the Duke Blue Devils on Monday night, falling by a final score of 101-64 inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. The 37-point drubbing represented the largest margin of defeat for Syracuse in a conference game since the DePaul debacle of 2006 in which the Orange lost by 39.
Duke won its 11th straight game against Syracuse and moved the series to an 18-6 advantage as the Blue Devils remained undefeated at home on the season.
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Duke was led by its star freshman and eventual ACC Player of the Year Cameron Boozer, who finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Isaiah Evans finished with 21 points and 8-13 shooting (3-6 from three). Syracuse was led by William Kyle III, who finished with 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Nate Kingz was the only other Orange player to break double-figure scoring with 10 points and 2 rebounds.
Duke led 40-23 at the half after going on an 11-0 run. Three turnovers proved costly for Syracuse during that stretch as the renowned Duke defensive clamps in the final four minute stretch gave the Blue Devils a 16 point lead heading into the break. The Blue Devils jumped on the Orange at the start of the second half, going on an 8-2 run prompting a Syracuse timeout just 85 seconds in. That 19-2 stretch all but put the game to bed. The starts and ends to halves in Durham can be backbreaking for opponents. Monday was no exception.
“It was a tough game for us because we never really could catch our rhythm once we finished the end of the first half,” Adrian Autry said post-game.
Duke had a 52-30 points in the paint edge and out-rebounded Syracuse 39-29. Syracuse turned it over 11 times to Duke’s four as the Blue Devils owned a 17-4 points of turnovers advantage.
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Syracuse was not competitive on Tobacco Road for the second straight game on ESPN’s Big Monday. This contest was a non-starter to the point where the ESPN in-studio team was near apologetic for showing this game to its audience, wishing for a tightly contested matchup in the nightcap with Houston at Iowa State (it was). The Orange basketball program is now 2-20 in its last 22 games broadcast on the ESPN’s flagship channel.
To the takeaways.
Double shot of Boozer is bad for your health
Syracuse had no real answer for Naismith Player of the Year candidate Cam Boozer, who managed a first half double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle did an admirable good staying in front on drives and walling up with low-post defense, but Boozer — with a 20 pound advantage on Kyle — is too much for one defender to handle. Boozer did some of his work on the offensive glass, scoring on all four of his offensive rebounds as his team put up 22 second chance points.
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It wasn’t just the offensive side of the ball Boozer impacts. Syracuse star Donnie Freeman was held in check with just nine points with Boozer guarding him. The Orange — which only goes as tall as 6-foot-9 across its backline — have struggled against bigger frontcourts this season. Autry was asked of all the ways Boozer impacts games.
“Besides the 22 points, 12 rebounds? 5-6 from the free throw line? Boozer is a guy that can impact the game even when he’s not scoring because of his passing ability. Defensively he’s really good, he can move his feet. He can stand people up. … That’s probably one of the better defensive frontcourts in the country with him and Maliq [Brown].”
Twin brother Cayden Boozer’s play wasn’t as loud, but it was still good.
When the Orange helped ballside on a Cam Boozer drive, the star freshman found his brother Cayden for a wide open corner three and he knocked it down. When Duke went Spain action against Syracuse’s man the Blue Devils emptied the right side and Cayden drove unimpeded to the rim for an easy layup. When Syracuse showed 2-3 zone at 13 minute mark, Cayden drove all the way from the perimeter for an uncontested layup.
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The Boozer boys combined for 34 points on 13-16 shooting.
Duke’s imposing defense; Imbalance of the benches
Duke is the No. 2 rated defense in KenPom defensive efficiency and Monday it showed why. The Blue Devils limited Syracuse to 26-63 shooting on the game. Duke’s pressure defense and first-pass denial forced Syracuse to initiate offense from further out in the halfcourt and made Syracuse work for its offense, many times forcing the Orange into late clock situations. Syracuse also had 11 turnovers which Duke efficiently turned into 17 points.
“They were active. They pushed us out. That’s why they’re one of the better defensive teams,” Autry said. “Their length, their physicality is tough. They really spread out and they can cover the court. You don’t really have a lot of time when you do get open. They do a good job of closing off and rotating.”
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Just two days after fueling the comeback against SMU, the Syracuse bench struggled on Monday night. The Orange’s struggles were not unique to the bench, it’s just that Duke’s reserves outscored Syracuse’s 39-16. It speaks to the level of talent and depth of Duke’s bench.
Nikolas Khamenia finished with 14 points while Cayden Boozer had a dozen. Brown, a former Syracuse started two seasons ago, finished with 6 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
Duke held a 9-0 bench points advantage in the first half. The Syracuse bench shot 0-7 in the first half and combined for three rebounds and five fouls.
Syracuse’s bench scored 16 second-half points as Kiyan Anthony knocked down a pair of threes, Sadiq White converted a three point play, Tyler Betsey got a couple shots to fall and Bryce Zephir scored a layup in garbage time. That pales in comparison to Duke’s reserves.
Will Kyle impresses
Kyle had generated some interest from NBA scouts earlier this year. He’ll likely garner a little more after this game.
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Kyle displayed his athleticism with his 7-foot-3 wingspan and 40+ inch vertical. He worked hard for three offensive rebounds and putbacks. He had a pair of big first half rejections, including a well-timed helpside rotation on a Patrick Ngongba layup attempt. He took the ball out of the air on an Isaiah Evans lob attempt to Boozer and — as a center — promptly dribbled coast-to-coast for an and-one.
Kyle was even bold enough to try a flat-flooted dunk à la Hakim Warrick versus Notre Dame. The attempt was unsuccessful despite some contact, but the athleticism was impressive nonetheless.
Kyle finished with a dozen points on 6-8 shooting despite going 0-4 from the free throw line. He battled hard with Boozer on the other end, but the burly Boozer is a difficult kind of matchup for the long, lengthy Kyle. Boozer’s play doesn’t take anything away from Kyle’s strong play on Monday night.
