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Alan Griffin caught the ball at the top of the key and glided right past his defender into the lane. As the defense collapsed him, he fired a pass to a cutting Quincy Guerrier, but he missed wide.

As it glanced off Guerrier’s outstretched right hand, it landed in the hands of Duke guard Jordan Goldwire for the Orange’s fourth turnover in five minutes. 

Four seconds later, Duke made a transition 3. Jim Boeheim called timeout before the ball hit the ground after falling through the hoop. 

The Blue Devils led by 10. The game was less than six minutes old, but he’d seen this before. 

In four of its last six games, Syracuse has played poorly in the opening 20 minutes and trailed by at least nine at halftime. The Orange erased two of those deficits — nine points vs North Carolina State and 14 points against Notre Dame — but could not against the upper-tier teams against the conference such as Clemson and Duke. On Monday, in Syracuse’s most important game of the season, the Orange were out of the contest in 14 minutes as Duke (11-8, 9-6 Atlantic Coast) steamrolled its way to a 39-17 lead and cruised to an 85-71 win against Syracuse (13-7, 7-6) in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke scored 52 first half points. 

“It’s on everyone. In a 2-3 zone, it’s on everyone to do their job,” junior guard Buddy Boeheim said. “And if one person slips up, the whole zone is just affected by it.”

Boeheim said post game that one starter, whom he declined to name, said ‘I didn’t play defense in the first half.’ The Orange entered this game on the NCAA Tournament bubble, a game that ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi called a play-out game, effectively pushing the loser off the bubble conversation. Yet Syracuse started the contest with four turnovers on offense, multiple missed attempts at the rim and lackluster defensive energy, Boeheim said.

Syracuse hasn’t really had turnover issues offensively this season. The Orange rank 42nd nationally in offensive turnover rate, but the start of the Duke loss on Monday began when Guerrier stepped out of bounds as he tried to drive the lane after a pump fake. Or when Goldwire stole the ball off Griffin at the top of the key, which led to an open court run out for the Blue Devils. Or when Buddy traveled due to passing indecision at the foul line. Or when Joe Girard III dribbed the ball out of bounds off his foot on the ensuing offensive possession, after he failed to close out on Jeremy Roach’s 3-pointer on the play before.  

Guerrier tried to drive in on Duke center Mark Williams, but he repeatedly failed to finish around the rim. 

“He’s not good at finishing around the basket,” Boeheim said. “He was always a shooter and he’s trying to work on his game and that guy (Williams) is good.”

It wasn’t until Kadary Richmond checked into the game that the Orange finally found some success at the offensive end. Even then, the defense didn’t improve. Richmond used his agility and handle to get to the rim and finish at the basket a few times. He made a 3-pointer — the Orange’s first of the night — with five minutes left in the half. Girard tallied zero first half points, and Guerrier made one field goal in the opening frame, the Orange’s second basket of the game.

Boeheim kept subbing his sophomore forward in and out throughout the first half. He credited Robert Braswell for his defensive effort when he went in for Guerrier or Griffin for large stretches. But still, SU’s defense crumbled.

Boeheim was quick to credit an improved Duke after the game, who made 10-of-18 3s in the opening frame. But he was just as quick to blame his defense, which failed to contain Duke. 

“There’s no excuse, we’re just not coming out and getting the movement we need to get on defense,” Boeheim said. “Everybody wants to blame the guards, it’s got nothing to do with our guards. Our forwards are not playing defense. They’re not.”

Even if Boeheim somewhat excused his guards, Buddy wasn’t willing to do the same. He said, “it’s on everyone” but also detailed what went wrong for the zone defense in the first half. When the Orange tried to take away the high post touches early in the game, Buddy said, the forwards failed to take away the jump shots from the wings. 

Roach made all four of his first half 3-point attempts. On one attempt, a Duke player outhustled three SU players for a rebound before tipping out to Roach at the top of the key. Girard was slow to contest, and the 3 was wide open.

When Duke ran out in transition after a Syracuse turnover, Buddy was left contesting a corner 3, which is not a typical rotation in the 2-3 zone. No one else had raced out to try to stop the 3, and Buddy’s contest was far too late. Another make. Duke beat the Orange down the floor in transition on another possession, resulting in a half court alley-oop to Williams on the interior and two easy points. 

Buddy said postgame the Orange have to know personnel better and be able to realize who the shooters are. Three different Duke players made multiple first half 3s. 

“Tonight they shot it really well,” Boeheim said. “Maybe better than they normally would. But we still have to do a better job on defense. You can’t spot them that lead.”

Unlike Saturday, when SU pulled off its biggest comeback win since 2005 and erased a 20-point second-half deficit to beat Notre Dame, there would be no comeback. Duke handled the Orange’s press with ease and expanded its lead to 24 in the second half. Unlike Jan. 31, when North Carolina State led in the Carrier Dome by nine at half before losing in the game’s final minutes, there would be no season-saving win. 

Much like the Clemson defeat, Syracuse had fallen too far behind against too good of an opponent to make up the difference. 

“Doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we can’t start off like that,” Buddy said. “You’re not going to come back down 20 every game, or even more than once in a season.”

Published on February 22, 2021 at 11:59 pm

Contact Anthony: [email protected] | @AnthonyDabbundo