Three points: 3-point advantage key as Duke men's basketball goes for ACC tournament win against Syracuse

Duke is in Brooklyn, N.Y., set to face Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament. Before the Blue Devils tip off Thursday, the Blue Zone has three keys to a potential third victory against the Orange this season:

Perimeter defense

Two of Syracuse’s starters, Joseph Girard III and Cole Swider, shoot over 40% from beyond the arc, and the team’s 3-point shooting percentage is at 37.6% for the season. In their second round game against Florida State, the Orange shot 51.4% overall and 39.3% from behind the arc, building a large lead early in the game as Syracuse’s shooters got hot right out of the gates. The Blue Devils can’t risk letting the Orange heat up quickly and find themselves behind early, so its essential Duke locks down the perimeter to challenge Syracuse’s 3-point shooting. However, without Buddy Boeheim due to his suspension, Syracuse will enter this game shorthanded in its perimeter attack.

When the Blue Devils defeated Syracuse by 25 on the road during the regular season, the Orange shot 27.8% from deep and starting guards Boeheim and Girard were very inefficient. If the Blue Devils shut down Syracuse’s 3-point shooting again, its offense will struggle against the Blue Devil’s mighty frontcourt in the paint.

Blue Devils' deep ball

While shutting Syracuse down from deep has to be a priority, the Blue Devils have to shoot well from behind the arc themselves. One of the goals of Syracuse’s 2-3 zone is to limit opponents’ opportunities in the paint. So for Duke to give itself opportunities to drive and get Paolo Banchero, Mark Williams and Theo John the ball in good position to score there, the Blue Devils have to space the floor by shooting well from outside and attract attention to the outside shooters. This may give Duke a lot of opportunities in the high and low post to move the ball and attack the defense with more Banchero-to-Williams feeds over the top, just like in the two teams' most recent matchup. If the Blue Devils have a good night from behind the arc, they’ll exploit the zone defense’s weaknesses and Syracuse will struggle to stop them from both the 3-point line and inside.

Moving the ball through the zone

Another key to attacking Syracuse’s zone defense is ball movement. The Blue Devils made 25 assists in their first game against Syracuse and 26 in their second. A similar performance Thursday would help them get a similarly positive outcome and advance to the semifinals of the tournament. Also, good ball movement will make it difficult for the zone defense to adjust its coverage if Duke avoids careless passes and turnovers. In the brief period of time a guard is double-teamed on the 3-point line between the middle of the court and the baseline, the offense can exploit the zone by quickly passing to the baseline with screens opening up a variety of options.