A season-defining win was to be had on Saturday night. With 31,458 in attendance packed into the Carrier Dome hoping the win would be Syracuse’s (13-9, 6-5 Atlantic Coast). Though after 40 minutes, SU’s missed opportunities allowed No. 9 Duke to hold on, reaffirming the ACC hierarchy. The Blue Devils (18-3, 8-2) won 97-88, quelling any upset bids with a consistent second half. An Orange team entering with 60.1% of its field goals coming off assists (20th in the nation, per KenPom), had just 13 assists on the night.

Here’s are some takeaways from the nationally-televised contest.

Failure to adapt

Through Syracuse’s five-game winning streak, it only surpassed 10-plus 3s once (12 at Virginia on Jan. 11). A hallmark of the run was the way in which SU was able to adapt, winning defensive scrums or creating two-point offense inside. Against Duke, however, a one-dimensional Orange missed open 3s and was turned inside. Syracuse managed 38 paint points, but Duke controlled the pace.

SU converted one of its first 14 3s, possessions routinely finishing in the hands of Marek Dolezaj or Bourama Sidibe rather than an Orange guard. Joe Girard III sunk one in the second half that popped the crowd. Buddy Boeheim later connected and cut the deficit to 10. But the misses were commonplace and Duke limited first-half turnovers, reducing the number of fastbreak attempts. Elijah Hughes sunk his first 3 in the game’s final two minutes, but by then a portion of the record-crowd had already filed for the exits.

For the Blue Devils, top freshman Vernon Carey won the day. The 6-foot-10, 270-pound center drew two-bodies in the paint and still dominated on the boards. He finished with 26 points and 17 rebounds, including a few second-half and-1s that get kept the margin comfortably in Duke’s favor. Add Carey to the list of Notre Dame’s John Mooney and Iowa’s Luke Garza to wreak havoc inside.

Second-half spring

Duke’s Cassius Stanley opened the visitors’ second-half scoring with a 3. He triggered a 9-1 run that’d give the Blue Devils a 10-point lead, a margin that SU wouldn’t threaten the rest of the contest.

Carey slammed an alley-oop that came in the halfcourt, landing in front of Dolezaj and screaming at him. The freshman earned a technical foul for the outburst, but it silenced a crowd still settling in for the second half. As Girard split his technical free throws, a rarity for a top-five shooter at the charity stripe, he looked off to the side.

SU bridged the halves with a 1-for-8 shooting stretch. A fan in front of the student section cited a lack of energy. Others side-stepped coats and shuffled to their seats. They returned from halftime to Duke playing to its potential, and SU regressing to its mean.

Almost enough

For the first half, Syracuse limited Duke’s rebounding success and made the game a scrap inside. With both teams shooting a combined 3-for-19 from deep in the first half, offensive rebounds and foul calls started and stopped each momentum swing. Orange head coach Jim Boeheim and other SU players clamored for Duke push-offs. Carey and other Duke players motioned for flopping calls.

Duke looked to take advantage of its size-advantage from the start. As Blue Devils guards flicked passes around the perimeter, they constantly eyed a forward inside who bodied a white jersey. They usually posted on the low-block, leveraging the baseline for room. If an SU forward overpursued the pass, they guaranteed an open layup.

Meanwhile, SU continued to garner the interior offensive action it’d usually want. Dolezaj and Quincy Guerrier earned their share of float-ins, backdoor feeds and putbacks. But a few timely mistakes turned rebound battles into scrums. Usually, Carey (averaging 8.5 rebounds per game) won.

Girard triggered a stretch of offense from beating Tre Jones and picking apart the visitors from the paint. But that came with Carey off the floor. When the Wooden-award finalist subbed back in, SU looked more to its shooters. In Syracuse’s biggest win of the season at Virginia, Boeheim said the Orange did enough inside to execute the upset. Saturday night proved different, however.

Published on February 1, 2020 at 10:43 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez