CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Syracuse (20-12, 10-8 Atlantic Coast) knocked off Pittsburgh on Wednesday night in SU’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament-opener, 73-59, to set up a third meeting this season with Duke (26-5, 14-4). The No. 6 seed Orange will take on the No. 3 seed Blue Devils in the nightcap on Thursday at the Spectrum Center. They’ve split their two meetings during the regular season and the rubber match will be for a place in the conference tournament semifinals.

Here’s what to know about Duke.

All-time series: Duke leads the all-time matchup, 8-6

Last time they played: Syracuse pulled off a January upset of the then-No. 1 Blue Devils but couldn’t repeat the feat in February. Duke came to the Carrier Dome without Zion Williamson, and won, 75-65. The Blue Devils were carried by 30 points from RJ Barrett and another 20 from former SU recruit Alex O’Connell. Four Syracuse players scored in double figures, but a 4-of-17 shooting night from Tyus Battle, mostly matched up with Tre Jones, accounted for much of the difference.

The Duke report: Williamson could return from a knee injury on Thursday, although whether he’ll be a full-go is unknown at this point. That’s a huge difference in the game. Syracuse had no answer for him in the upset earlier this season, with Williamson going for 35 points, 10 rebounds and blocking four shots. Jim Boeheim has said he hasn’t seen a player like Williamson in his coaching career, so his return is a game-changer for the Blue Devils on both ends of the floor.

Williamson teams with Barrett to form the potential first two picks in June’s NBA Draft. Barrett, a lefty like Williamson, has carried the load with his teammate out for the last few weeks. He’s taken on more of a facilitator role in addition to his team-high scoring, dishing out about four assists per game. In SU’s second meeting with Duke, Barrett caused issues by finding space in the zone and either making jumpers or drawing attention to find the open man.

Duke surrounds its stars with two high-level shooters in O’Connell and Cam Reddish. The interior size of the Blue Devils takes a hit, though, with Marques Bolden out for the ACC tournament with an MCL sprain. But the probable return of Williamson mitigates the concern that could’ve caused.

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How Syracuse beats Duke: Score and prevent 3-pointers. The Orange put up a season-high 95 points in an overtime win the first time these teams met this season. The Blue Devils wanted to play fast, but SU kept up and outplayed them. That’ll have to happen again on Thursday because Duke will do what it can to play at its fast pace. Syracuse will just have to outpace them.

One way to do that is stopping 3-pointers. Few teams have found any recipes for stopping Williamson and Barrett, who both average more than 20 a game, but neither is a great shooter. It’s the guys like Reddish and O’Connell who can provide daggers. Just when a defense thinks it’s solved the stars, the outside guys make shots to put a team away. That’s what O’Connell did in the Carrier Dome during the second meeting. The Orange may barely slow down the lefty freshman duo, but they’ll need to stop any scoring around them.

Stat to know: 75.3 — Zion Williamson’s shooting percentage from 2-point range, third in the country

KenPom odds: Duke has a 85 percent chance to win, by a projected score of 78-66

Player to watch: Tre Jones, guard, No. 3

Jones is the Blue Devils’ freshman point guard and younger brother of Tyus Jones, who won a national championship at Duke. He left the game early with an injury in the first meeting of SU and Duke, but he played the full second game. His impact is less noticeable than Williamson or Barrett’s, but he guarded Battle for most of the second half as Duke came back to beat the Orange in the Dome. Even if Battle remains out, Jones should shut somebody down on Thursday.

Published on March 14, 2019 at 12:07 am

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