Duke used a 21-2 run starting midway through the opening half to break open a close game against Syracuse Saturday evening. Duke never led by less than nine points in the second half in closing out a 77-55 win.
This was a huge road win for a team that has struggled to put together road wins in the ACC this season. Syracuse and Duke both came into the game 9-6 in the ACC and Duke was only a 1.5 point favorite. On paper this should have been a game that came down to the wire. But Duke broke Syracuse’s pressure, dominated the glass, hit 3-pointers at an impressive rate and used depth and balance to control the final 28 minutes in front of a hostile crowd of 31,063, the largest on-campus crowd of the season anywhere in college hoops.
This could be a turning point in a season with a lot of opportunities still ahead of it. After all Duke’s next three games are in Cameron, Louisville, Virginia Tech and NC State. Can two straight wins turn into three, four, five, more? Stay tuned.
For the first dozen minutes or so it certainly looked like a game that was going to come down to the wire. Duke jumped on top 7-2--no repeat of NC State or Miami here--with three different freshmen putting the ball in the basket.
But senior Joe Girard and freshman Judah Mintz did their thing and the home team was up 13-9.
That was their high-water mark. Dariq Whitehead again came off the bench and again gave Duke instant offense, a layup that made it 13-11, a 3-pointer that put Duke up 16-15, another 3 that put Duke up 19-17.
But the real fun started after a Jesse Edwards layup tied the game at 19-19, with 8:24 left.
Duke went into full beast mode.
Syracuse missed five straight from the field before Mintz hit a jumper to make it 27-21. Then they missed three more; there were some turnovers thrown in.
On the other end of the court Duke was moving the ball, finding seams in Syracuse’s famous 2-3 zone and scorching the net, 3-pointers by Jake Grandison, Tyrese Proctor, Jeremy Roach, Whitehead again and Kyle Filipowski, all in a span of barely four minutes.
By the time the carnage ended it was 40-21 Duke.
“We get out in transition,” Jon Scheyer said of that run. “And when you can do that, that makes your life easy. We made good decisions there. And then just being poised. It looks easier than it is when you catch the ball in the middle of their zone. I actually thought Mark [Mitchell] did a really nice job in there. Just had great poise, making the right plays. And then attacking the basket when we had the opportunity to doing that. But really it came down to sharing it, playing aggressively and getting out in transition.”
“That’s exactly how we should approach teams and opportunities like that,” Filipowski said. “We should really take the hope out of them. I think we did a great job of that today and we’ve got to do that more often.”
Syracuse stabilized enough to score the final six points of the half, including an offensive rebound right before the buzzer.
A switch in old-man momentum?
Not really. The teams traded a couple of minutes worth of empty possession to open the second half before Mintz knocked down a triple to make it 40-30. But Filipowski ended the drought with a layup, Mitchell hit a jumper and Whitehead hit another bomb and it was 47-33.
By this time Duke had turned Syracuse into a stunningly limited offensive team. Dereck Lively II ruled the paint and completely took Jesse Edwards out of the game. Syracuse’s starting front-court combined for 11 points.
In fact, Girard (21) and Mintz (18) combined for all but 16 of Syracuse’s points. But the duo also combined for two assists and four turnovers, as Syracuse hit a woeful 34.5% from the field.
Scheyer credited Proctor for making Girard work for his points.
.”I thought he was incredibly disciplined. He’s put together some big-time defensive performances back-to-back-to-back. It’s a credit to his growth. He’s tough as can be on that end.”
Syracuse assisted on only seven of their 19-made field goals. And it wasn’t a stingy scorekeeper, either.
Duke assisted on 22 of its 30 made field goals, a tribute to crisp ball movement and finding the open man.
“Just moving it,” Roach said. “Letting everybody touch it. That’s a big thing in basketball, when everybody’s touching it, everybody’s got confidence. We’re making the right play, the ball’s probably going to go in. It’s a big thing with their zone, we wanted to be poised. We knew they kind of stand you up, slow you down. We wanted to move it, even when it gets late in the shot clock, we still wanted to be poised and find the best shot we can.”
Duke also outrebounded Syracuse 38-25, while hitting 54.5% from the field.
Filipowski had 14 points and 12 rebounds, his 12th double-double of the season. Maybe he was Duke’s star.
Or maybe it was Roach, who led Duke with 17 points, knocking down three of seven from beyond the arc. Or Lively, with three blocks and eight rebounds. Or Mitchell, eight points and five assists. Or Proctor, eight points, a game-high six assists.
Or Whitehead and those 14 points in 19 minutes. He was four of six on 3s and has made 13 of his last 19 from beyond the arc.
He said he wasn’t even slightly bothered by shooting in a dome.
“I wouldn't say the place matters, just really you’ve got to shoot it with confidence. I feel like if you’re shooting with confidence, you know you can hit anywhere. And that’s what I came out tonight and did. Shot it with confidence.”
Truth be told, this was a team victory.
“I could go on about each guy that played for us tonight,” Scheyer summed up. “It was a great collective effort.”
So, 10-6 in the ACC, 19-8 overall. Can Duke build on it? Remains to be seen. So far Duke is 2-0 in the first game of that Saturday/Monday twin-bill, 0-2 in the second. But Monday night’s game against Louisville will be in Cameron and it’s no secret that the Cardinals are struggling. Beating the teams you’re supposed to be beat is a sign of maturity and we’ll see if Duke is ready for that test 48 hours or so from now.
Great summary of our balanced offensive effort, Jim. What a difference from just a couple of games ago. Add Lively's contributions to the defensive end, and I agree that this COULD BE a turning point. The path is there with three straight home games, so let's capitalize!!!
Agree with Bob that the rest of this season could be a lot of fun!!! Let's keep it going with a win tomorrow night in Cameron!