SYRACUSE, N.Y.—It was 23 degrees with a foot of snow on the ground in Syracuse, but Duke was flaming hot inside the Carrier Dome.
After Syracuse honored Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski in a pregame ceremony that included an award in Krzyzewski’s name, the Blue Devils proceeded to completely disrespect their hosts with a 97-72 win.
Breaking Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim’s signature 2-3 zone was only the beginning for Duke (25-4, 15-3 in ACC play) Saturday night. The Blue Devils dominated all facets of the game on their way to a 25-point win against the Orange (15-14, 9-9).
It was really a three-man show for Krzyzewski’s squad Saturday night. Paolo Banchero, AJ Griffin and Mark Williams were the hot hands in this one, finishing with 21 (7-of-16 shooting), 20 (7-of-11 shooting) and 28 (11-of-14 shooting) points, respectively, while the rest of the Blue Devils combined for just 28 points. Williams set a career-high in points and grabbed yet another double-double with 12 rebounds (8 offensive).
"Just having fun, really," Banchero said on what allowed him to get back to his normal self this game. "I'm locked in, but just remembering that the day that it's fun, playing basketball [is] ... I should be having fun on the court, get back to smiling."
"I think honestly with zone I was just able to position myself in the right places and have little bit of an advantage when it comes to O-boards," Williams said on his offensive rebounding. "...Just in the right place at the right time."
Banchero was the main star of the first half but faded a bit in the second, and Williams and Griffin excelled in the later period after taking a slight backseat in the first. The three fed off of each other and filled in for one another when needed. Griffin dominated the perimeter shooting, Banchero controlled the center of the zone and Williams ate up the paint in an all-around forceful offensive showing.
"Paolo, that was one of his best games. Really in the middle of the zone, he had nine assists and one turnover," Krzyzewski said. "And Mark was fantastic. His ability to catch and finish and also get eight rebounds—eight offensive rebounds—12 total, was huge."
That’s not to say that the win wasn’t a complete team effort. Part of neutralizing a typically effective zone is having great ball movement and the Blue Devils did just that. Duke’s offense looked like a fluid machine as the ball seemed to never stay in one man’s hands for more than a couple of seconds.
The team finished with 26 assists on 35 made field goals. Banchero had an immense impact on the game, leading the Blue Devils with nine dimes.
Overall, Duke shot an incredible 53.8% from the field and 46.9% from deep. Neither of those numbers would have been possible without the stellar passing.
The Orange were able to narrow the lead down to as close as 15 in large part due to the impressive showing by Buddy Boeheim. The senior guard was up to his old tricks once again, leading his team and playing gritty, effective basketball against Duke. His 23 points led Syracuse and prevented the game from getting too far out of reach.
Battling the largest crowd in college basketball this season (31,803) is no easy task, but the Blue Devils were up to the challenge. Every time the Orange would shrink the lead, Duke found a way to take the crowd right out of it. A vicious steal-and-slam by Wendell Moore Jr. early in the second half was a prime example of that.
The Blue Devils entered the half up 17 points and the story was all about 3-point shooting. Although the team slowed down in the second half, the first 20 minutes clearly set the story for this game.
Duke opened up a 14-0 lead after Syracuse immensely struggled to find its first basket. But once the Orange got on the board, the Blue Devils didn’t let off the gas. It was 31-9 before anyone could realize just what was happening and the lead even grew as large as 30.
"I thought our our offense was amazing for those first 17 minutes in the first half," Krzyzewski said.
Duke hit a whopping 10 shots from deep in the opening period, in large part due to Banchero, who had 18 first-half points on 4-of-6 3-point shooting.
"Paolo's all in. These guys, at times, put a lot pressure on themselves," Krzyzewski said. "And you can get into your own head and still have a great attitude and whatever, but to me, his head was in the game."
The Blue Devils only failed to score on seven possessions in the first 13 minutes. But Buddy Boeheim led the charge in a revamped final few minutes and Syracuse was able to pull back to within 20 points.
Duke travels to Pittsburgh before its regular-season finale against North Carolina in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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