Duke is coming off a close overtime win against Virginia Tech and will need to perform at a much higher level to take down new rival Syracuse. Since the Orange entered the ACC last season, the Blue Devils have formed a new rivalry with Jim Boeheim’s squad, creating three classics in a row. Here are three keys if Duke wants to extend its winning streak to nine games:
Figure out how to stop pick-and-rolls involving Jahlil Okafor
When the dominant freshman center turned his ankle against North Carolina Feb. 18, all of Cameron Indoor Stadium fell silent. The 6-foot-11 freshman missed Duke’s next game against Clemson and wasn’t missed considering the Blue Devils won that contest by 22 points. In Duke’s next contest against Virginia Tech, Okafor put up a career-high 30 points, with his performance against the Hokies showing that a bad ankle can’t limit his offensive prowess. The problem comes defensively.
In the Blue Devils' win Feb. 14, Syracuse center Rakeem Christmas—the leading scorer for the Orange at 18.1 points per game—only scored 11 points on 5-of-17 shooting. Okafor was the main defense against Christmas in that contest and used his 6-foot-11, 270-pound frame to disrupt Christmas' drives to the hoop, but expect Christmas and the Orange guards to try to get Okafor in space again and see how the big man moves. If the Chicago native struggles like he did Wednesday against Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils could be in for another long evening on that end of the court.
Contain Gbinije
Remember that complicated last name that used to be on the back of a Duke jersey? Well, the last time that the Blue Devils faced off against the Orange, Gbinije put up a game-high 27 points on 10-14 shooting without missing a minute. So focused on Christmas, it appeared as if not a single Duke player was interested in defending the 6-foot-7 guard from Richmond, Va. This time around—if the Blue Devils want to have an easier time in defeating Syracuse—they will have to focus in on Gbinije.
The redshirt junior sits third on the Orange’s points per game list at 13.0, but he is also their greatest threat from beyond the arc—Gbinije hits 42.7 percent of his three-point attempts. In the game at the Carrier Dome, he hit five 3-pointers in the first half and hurt Duke with his play-making as his team's jack-of-all-trades. If the Blue Devils want to grab another win and solidify their potential to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, making sure Gbinije doesn’t heat up again and open things up for Christmas and sharpshooter Trevor Cooney will be important.
Utilize the bench
The biggest boost Duke received in its last contest against Syracuse was from bench player Matt Jones. The Orange were provided zero points from bench players in the Feb. 14 contest while the Blue Devils were able to scrape together 15 points, including eight points from Jones. But recently, Duke's bench has struggled with Jones starting and Syracuse has gotten much-needed production from reserve forward B.J. Johnson, who had 19 points in Tuesday's upset win at No. 9 Notre Dame. Whichever team can get some quality minutes from its bench players will get a major boost with foul trouble likely to affect this contest like it did the earlier matchup, which was very physical from the outset.
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