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DURHAM, N.C. — Syracuse was in trouble just 30 seconds into its game against Duke. AJ Griffin was wide open on the right wing, and despite being several steps behind the 3-point line, he caught the pass from Wendell Moore Jr. and sunk the 3. 

Moore had received the pass from inside, and with Buddy Boeheim forced to guard Jeremy Roach in the corner — and Jimmy Boeheim late to react — Griffin had Duke’s first, but not last, open shot of the game.

Just 45 seconds later, Paolo Banchero passed the ball crosscourt to Griffin, who again found himself wide open on the right wing. Four Syracuse players stood in a box around Banchero, but nobody was close to Griffin. This time even further beyond the 3-point line, the freshman corralled the pass and again sunk the shot. 

So the next time Griffin caught the ball, SU was forced to give him extra attention, allowing Roach to drive inside and find 7-foot-1 center Mark Williams, who laid it in. Two minutes later, Moore drove and lobbed a pass to Williams, who got just enough of his right hand on the ball to convert. 

Three minutes into the game, No. 6 Duke led Syracuse 11-2. Jim Boeheim had already been forced to use a timeout, and the Orange conceded four turnovers and the Blue Devils offensive attack had already revealed itself. A steady diet of open 3-pointers from around the perimeter, combined with dominant, physical play inside from Williams (15 points, 7 rebounds) and Banchero (15 points, 13 rebounds and four assists) led to the ensuing 37 minutes looking awfully similar to the game’s first three. The end result: 14 3-pointers, a once-again exposed 2-3 zone and a deflating 20-point road loss for a Syracuse team that couldn’t match up with Duke’s size, athleticism and shooting ability.

“We didn’t guard (Griffin). He got two open looks to start the game, and that’s just inexcusable,” Boeheim said. “They’re going to get some stuff inside, we can live with that. We can’t give them 14 3s.”

Duke’s offense entered the game with the highest points per game average in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the eighth-best adjusted offensive efficiency in the country, per KenPom. Syracuse has faced versatile Duke wings in recent years — most notably Jayson Tatum, RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson — but it faced a new challenge in Banchero on Saturday. The forward is already listed as a likely No. 1 pick in next spring’s NBA draft, and gave SU problems with his 6-foot-10, 250-pound frame and ability to penetrate inside and shoot from beyond the arc.

Boeheim said the Orange did a good job containing Banchero in the first half, with the freshman being held to just four points, but his ability to move the ball from inside to outside proved detrimental to Syracuse’s hopes of containing the Blue Devils. With six minutes left in the first half, Banchero received the ball at the right elbow, immediately turning his head, first to fake a pass to Williams on the block — moving Jimmy out of position in the process — and then to ultimately find Griffin wide-open in the corner. Griffin drilled the 3 without a defender near him, putting Duke up by nine. 

“He is our best shooter, and I would really like for him to be even more aggressive,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said of Griffin. “Every guy on our team has complete confidence in him when they pass it to him.”

Williams became the beneficiary of Syracuse’s defensive focus being focused largely on locating and containing Griffin and Banchero. With less than a minute left in the first half, Benny Williams and Jimmy were caught playing too high on the wings, and after Banchero drew Frank Anselem up by moving to the free throw line, Moore tossed an alley-oop from the top of the 3-point arc to Williams, who was standing on the right block. The center jumped, bringing the low pass over the rim and through the basket, and giving Duke a 36-22 lead heading into the half. The Blue Devils finished the first half with 13 made shots, 12 of them coming off assists. 

“That’s just how we are, how we play,” Banchero said. “We got some great players all over our court, everyone trusts each other to make shots and we never hesitate.”

The Blue Devils finished the first half shooting nearly 50% from the field, and hit seven of their 15 3-point attempts. In the second half, it was more of the same. Duke knocked in seven more 3-pointers, but its play inside opened up the game — creating a lead as large as 31. Syracuse’s Jesse Edwards picked up his third foul early in the half, and Duke took advantage, driving inside and using nine second half offensive rebounds to help score 43 points in the last 20 minutes.

Krzyzewski said postgame there was a several-minute stretch in the second half where he felt Duke was playing some of its best basketball of the season, pointing out his team’s defense — which held SU to its third-lowest point total of the season — and ability to move the ball, racking up “hockey assists” as the ball was worked around the perimeter. 

When shots didn’t fall from outside, Banchero, Williams and others secured position inside to create second-chance shots. After missing a 3-pointer from the right wing, Banchero flew inside, securing the rebound and finishing inside to give Duke a 30-point lead. Before that, though, it was Moore running straight down the middle off the paint, waiting for Joey Baker’s missed 3 to hit the rim, and with Edwards not boxing anybody out, Moore lept for the one-hand putback. 

By that point, not even midway through the second half, it was clear that Syracuse would not be picking up its third-ever win in Cameron Indoor Stadium. While Boeheim mostly noted the offensive struggles as an explanation for the 79-59 loss, the defensive issues that helped lead to the 11-2 deficit three minutes in, the 14-point halftime deficit and the 30+ point Duke leads throughout the second half, have been the same recurring ones throughout the season. Difficulty finding and contesting open shooters coupled with slow rotations and general defensive rebounding struggles have put the Orange back below .500, inevitably pointing it to its first NIT appearance in five years, and potentially, Boeheim’s first losing season as Syracuse’s head coach. 

“They were just better than us today, for sure,” Boeheim said.

Published on January 22, 2022 at 6:34 pm

Contact Connor: [email protected] | @csmith17_