Top-seeded Duke survives close game with Syracuse, advances to ACC tourney semifinal
On the verge of a short ACC tournament stay thanks to gutsy play by short-handed Syracuse, No. 7 Duke finally found its stride in the final minutes to escape on Thursday.
No. 9 seed Syracuse played without the ACC’s leading scorer but led by a point before Duke scored the game’s final 10 points in the last three minutes to post an 88-79 win in the tournament quarterfinals.
The top-seeded Blue Devils (27-5) advance to play either fourth-seeded Miami or No. 13 seed Boston College in Friday night’s semifinals at 7 p.m.
Wendell Moore led Duke with 26 points while Jeremy Roach scored 19 points off the bench as Duke placed five players in double figures. Sophomore center Mark Williams scored all of his points in the second half to go with his game-high 16 rebounds.
“I’m proud of my guys for especially executing down the stretch,” Krzyzewski said. “Wendell really led us. I thought it was Mark’s best half, in the second half, this year. The guy who really turned it around for us was Jeremy. Jeremy had a sensational game.”
The lone Duke starter who didn’t reach double figures was freshman A.J. Griffin, who is still feeling the effects of a stomach illness and scored four points. Krzyzewski said he and associate head coach Chris Carrawell were also stricken on Wednesday.
Syracuse senior Buddy Boeheim, the ACC’s leading scorer, sat out the game serving a one-game suspension the ACC implemented after he punched Florida State’s Wyatt Wilkes during the Orange’s 96-57 win on Wednesday.
Having defeated Syracuse 79-59 and 97-72 in the regular season, the Blue Devils had trouble containing Jimmy Boeheim (28 points) and Joe Girard (23) in this game.
“We got the game we expected,” Krzyzewski said. “(Coach Jim Boeheim’s) teams always play with great confidence. They did today. Great verve. And I knew Jimmy would pick up for Buddy. They’re a great, great family.”
The Orange (16-17) led 79-78 when Boeheim tipped in a Girard miss. Moore gave Duke the lead with two free throws before Paolo Banchero scored through contact for an 82-79 Duke lead. After Williams swatted away a Boeheim shot, Roach’s 3-pointer with 1:05 to play put the Blue Devils in control with an 85-79 lead.
“We had this look in our eyes that we were going to get it done,” Moore said of Duke’s final stretch. “We had this look in the huddle, everybody knew what we were going to do the for the next three possessions. Three stops and three scores. Everybody knew what we were doing on the offensive end, and really it was just a matter of getting stops on the defensive end. So that look I saw in everybody’s eyes, it just looked like we’re not losing this game.”
The Orange, after trailing by 11 points early, led 40-36 at halftime, giving Duke just its third halftime deficit of the season. Syracuse immediately pushed its lead to seven points and led 52-45 with 16:33 to play when Jimmy Boeheim banked in a runner.
Duke trailed 55-49 when it took advantage of Cole Swider’s foul trouble.
The 6-9 senior picked up his fourth foul with 15:00 to play and left the game. Duke immediately scored on the next two possessions and, even after Syracuse rushed Swider back into the game, extended the run to 8-0 and led 57-55 after Moore hit two free throws at 13:29
With the teams tied at 60, Williams scored baskets inside on consecutive Duke possessions. A Roach 3-pointer from the corner in front of the Duke bench with 8:02 left gave the Blue Devils a 72-67 lead.
But Syracuse battled back again, even after Duke led 76-71 with 5:08 left.
Three-pointers by Boeheim and Girard cut Duke’s lead to 78-77. When Boeheim tipped in a Girard miss with 3:32 leff, the Orange led 79-78.
Duke started hot from beyond the 3-point arc, hitting six 3-pointers in the first nine minutes to build a 24-13 lead.
That was despite the Orange going away from their traditional zone defense to use a triangle-and-two approach aimed at slowing Williams and Banchero inside and Griffin on the perimeter.
“Duke is a difficult team for us,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “They’ve completely dominated us two games. Come in today, we tried, which we haven’t used in 24, 25 years, the triangle and two, which worked for a while. They’re going to eventually get it. But I thought it gave us a little bit of an edge, and then we would switch back to the zone.”
Just when it looked like the Blue Devils were on their way to a third lopsided win over Syracuse this season, the Orange struck back behind Girard.
The senior guard scored the game’s next 10 points, hitting a 3-pointer and a jumper then drawing fouls on two consecutive 3-point attempts. His hitting five of six free throws left Duke up 24-23.
The Blue Devils pushed back, with Keels driving to hit a bank shot and Griffin hitting a jumper to give Duke a 30-25 lead.
But consecutive 3-pointers by Jimmy Boeheim followed by a Symir Torrence layup put the Orange up 33-30 with 6:46 to play in the half.
Syracuse went nine consecutive possessions without scoring but Duke only scored three times in that stretch to take a 36-33 lead.
But the Orange scored the half’s final seven points, including Girard’s 3-pointer at the buzzer, to take a 40-36 halftime lead.
This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 2:19 PM.