The Syracuse Orange (15-12, 6-8) entered tonight’s game as a 20-point underdog and for 16 minutes it looked like they might make it a tough battle for the #3 Duke Blue Devils (24-2, 13-1). Then, Duke went on an 11-0 run to close the first half and the blowout was on. The final score was 101-64 and it was the worst loss of the Adrian Autry era.
The Orange struggled to slow down the duo of Cameron Boozer (22 points and 12 rebounds) and Isaah Evans (21 points) and struggled to get anything going on the offensive end, missing a lot of clean looks. William Kyle was the one Syracuse player who didn’t look out of place tonight as he had 12 points and was disruptive around the rim. Nate Kingz had 10 points while Donnie Freeman was held to 9 points on 4-8 shooting.
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Offensive rebounds were an issue right from the start as Duke scored 6 of their first 7 points off of second chance opportunities. William Kyle made his presence felt with two early blocks and Syracuse took a 9-7 lead into the first media timeout. After the break, it was more 2nd chance points as the Blue Devils grabbed two more offensive rebounds and converted to take the lead back.
Duke came out of the timeout and took control of the game as Syracuse’s reserves couldn’t make shots and Isaiah Evans could. His 3 gave Duke a 21-12 lead and led to an Autry timeout. The starters came back in and helped stay in touch getting the game to 28-22 at the next timeout. Kyle made some strong plays on both ends and Nate Kingz knocked down two 3s.
Syracuse had a chance to get it to one possession but missed and Cayden Boozer knocked down an open 3 and then two free throws and two layups from Cam Boozer and a dunk from Evans pushed the Duke lead to 40-24 at the half. The Orange committed three straight turnovers as they watched the Blue Devils go on a 12-2 run in the final 4 minutes.
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At the half, Syracuse was 10-31 from the field, 4-16 from 3 and 0-3 from the line. That’s not the recipe to pull off an upset. Any chance of getting back into the game went away as Duke continued to score at will inside the paint and Syracuse continued to miss open shot after open shot.
It was 68-40 at the under 12 timeout as Duke opened the half shooting 8-9 from the field and 4-4 from 3. Syracuse’s defense couldn’t slow them down and by the time Sadiq White and Kiyan Anthony got on the scoreboard, the broadcast was focused on Duke’s remaining schedule.
The Orange kept Duke off the offensive glass in the second half…because the Blue Devils were shooting 85% from the field at the under 8 timeout with an 81-52 lead. Everyone that Duke put on the floor made shots and they finished the game shooting 62% from the field, 60% from 3 while the Orange shot 41% from the field and 37% from 3- missing plenty of open looks.
Syracuse is back in action Saturday when North Carolina comes to the Dome for a 1:00 tip on ABC.
