No. 2 Duke Men’s Basketball Routs Syracuse 83-54, 5 Blue Devils Score double numbers

On By Littum

Syracuse, Ny— When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you the orange, make a statement.

The other ranked blue devils took these words to the heart on Wednesday night at JMA Wireless Dome and composed yet another pleasant performance against Syracuse. The 83-54 victory, speared by Tyrese Proctor’s 16 points and one of Duke’s most dominant defensive show in conference games, holds head coach Jon Scheyer’s team undefeated in ACC and right on the field for a choice # 1 seed comes on Sunday.

“Really proud of the collective efforts of really everyone in our team who steps up,” said Scheyer Postgame. “The defense, I thought, was generally really good. I love to see our guys compete, have fun together, and then just everyone got engaged, which I thought we really had everyone on the team that steps up for different moments tonight. “

Unlike Duke’s victory against North Carolina, the name of Wednesday’s game was not offensive dominance. Blue Devils’ shooting percentage and rebound rates in the first half were mediocre, but they were able to build a significant buffer thanks to a dramatic 14-6 turnover advantage that accounted for 23 blue devil points.

Sometimes this resulted in direct points, but what the state sheets will not reflect is that it also resulted in lots of free kick. Konnukppel alone went 5-of-5 from the line-a part of Duke’s possible 14 points from the Stripe-Men Syracuse as a team only tried four bad shots all games.

But Duke (20-2, 12-0 in ACC) wasn’t the only team that played solid defense, though its ability to build an advantage from takeaways indicates it. In fact, Syracuse (10-13, 4-8) succeeded in some rival team not: keeping the country’s best player relatively quiet. The Wooden Award Favorite Cooper Flagg was limited to only 11 points in 28 minutes of play, his lowest since he fell six points against Incarnate Word in December.

The key to Orange’s success in Stunte Flagg was their strong postal defense, overwritten by the former Colorado Center Eddie Lampkin Jr. The blue devils struggled to find lanes down and were instead forced into center and long-range jumpers, shots can flag usually hit. The result was a greater than normal dependence on Duke’s circumference threats to preserve, then expand, its lead.

Given this information, Wednesday’s game was predictably closest (20-14 midway through the first half) as Duke did not sink his 3-point shots and least close (45-27 early in the second half) when it was.

“I want him to take more (shots), but he’s great with it because he loves the fact that we won,” Scheyer said of Flagg. “He loves the fact that other guys got their shots.”

Tyrese Proctor embodied this dynamic perfectly: he was 0-for-2 on his first shot of the game, missed a couple of free kicks and finished the first half 3-of-8 from the field. But all three of these brands came outside the arch and sent the blue devils to the dressing room with a 37-23 benefit.

“In the end, it will happen if he is aggressive, I think that’s the biggest thing,” Scheyer said of Proctor’s confidence in his shot. “I love when he’s shot ready. I love, when he is assertive-whether it is the pick-and-roll that runs out of off-ball-screens and what he has done the last two matches, we need him in that mood. “

Offensive wobbles aside, the blue devil defense made sure Syracuse had to scrape and scratch after any bucket. This was largely due to Scheyer’s introduction by a player who was very well known for JMA Wireless Domes Crowd: Maliq Brown.

Brown, who went into a ring of Boos on his Syracuse “Domecoming”, emptied his bag in an important 24 minute play from the bench. Even if his offensive contributions were limited-brown browned one three and was filled on a quick-breach of dunk-attempt-testing his defensive work and rebounding excellent. At a remarkable time, the junior chop the ball out of Lucas Taylor’s hands and jumped it off his back from the borders and sent Duke the other way to a knuckle -set line.

“Maliq has changed our team dramatically. I mean, Maliq is the ultimate teammate, “Scheyer said.” He is incredibly selfless. He has been all we could pray for and more, and he won’t blow you away with his score, but that’s not what he does. “

Brown’s endeavors, in addition to a stellarist defense from the Blue Devil Backcourt, held Syracuse for a bad 10-for-28 mark from the floor in the first frame. Orange’s flood gates began to split in the process, allowing three on three consecutive plays by Isaiah Evans, Proctor and Sion James.

Syracuse fans also came to Bemoan an offensive production from Brown after the break at the break, including a few free kicks and a stadium-silencing dunk on a James feed. On the subsequent possession, Brown returned the benefits and dived it over his defender head in James’ hands on a beautiful low cut and gave Duke his biggest lead to the point, 51-31.

“He’s so selfless. I think he is too selfless at times, ”said Proctor of Brown. “He is such a good defender and gives us the opportunity to get a lot in the transition, but offensively he is just so selfless and I think when he starts to look at scoring more and look on the edge, it pulls out the defense To collapse even more. “

It’s hard to call the last 10 minutes of a “waste time” in the second half “, but Blue Devils played with House Money Come the last quarter of the game.

Proctor and Evans found each success from Deep, Flagg threw one of his statements under strong pressure, and Scheyer unloaded the rotation and never let his team’s lead slip under 20 points again. Syracuse found bursts of offensive success, but couldn’t crack the blue devil defense as quickly as his own was broken, allowing minutes to run by until the final flute jumped.

Duke continues with the Orange-themed road trips this weekend, on the way to Littlejohn Coliseum to meet Clemson on Saturday at. 18:30

Andrew Long Profile
Andrew Long
| Recruitment/Social President

Andrew Long is a Trinity Senior and Recruitment/Social President of Chronicle’s 120. Volume. He was former sports editor for Volume 119.