SYRACUSE, N.Y. — From its overtime heartbreaker at Virginia to its narrow defeat at Virginia Tech, and even to its humiliations at the hands of N.C. State and Miami, Duke has often found games outside the comfortable walls of Cameron Indoor Stadium insurmountable.
Almost like a vault at a high-security bank — full of riches and so tempting to unlock, but impassable, so long as the key eludes you.
On Saturday night in Syracuse, the Blue Devils may have found that key.
In Duke’s convincing 77-55 win against the Orange, it was not the standout efforts of any individual or any ineptitude on behalf of the opposition that decided the game, but a cohesive and enchanting display of what this Blue Devil team can look and play like at its zenith.
Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim’s famous 2-3 zone forced Duke into unfamiliar territory on the perimeter and encouraged it to shoot. Half — 13 of 26, to be exact — of the Blue Devils’ tries from deep sailed through, dwarfing the Orange’s 6-for-16 rate. Duke outrebounded Syracuse 38-25, including 28 defensive rebounds to just 15. The Blue Devils notched 22 assists, more than three times the Orange’s tally.
“Tyrese [Proctor], the job that he did on [Joseph] Girard was big-time,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said. “Dereck [Lively II] is such a difference-maker protecting our basket, he really is. I don't think there's anybody quite like him in the country. Mark [Mitchell], I just thought he had a really good overall game. I could go on about each guy that played for us tonight. It was a great collective effort.”
Plain and simple, Duke just played some really solid, really effective basketball. So much so, in fact, that the 31,063 fans in attendance at the JMA Wireless Dome began to trickle out early. With just under 10 minutes to play in the second half, Boeheim sent in the young guns and Scheyer fielded a Blue Devil lineup consisting of five backups for the final stretch of the contest.
Kyle Filipowski did his job: double digits on the boards and in the points column. Lively did his job: locking up the rim and swatting shots. Jeremy Roach and Proctor did their jobs: threatening from downtown and facilitating the offense. And Dariq Whitehead, in his third game back from a leg injury, did his job, logging 14 points and four 3-pointers in just 19 minutes of play.
You are only as fast as your slowest member, but every Blue Devil was up to the task Saturday night. No need to worry about the weak link — there wasn’t one.
It is important to ground these praises in context. Syracuse did not play outstandingly — Boeheim said he got “no help” on the wing from his players — and, personnel-wise, is nowhere near the toughest opponent Duke has played or will play. Equally, though, these types of games have tripped the Blue Devils up this year, from their clunky loss at Clemson to their near-miss against Notre Dame earlier in the week. No matter who is playing or where, winning nearly always requires the winner to earn it.
The first hurdle was piecing the puzzle together. Scheyer has seemed to figure that out, with Proctor slotting in seamlessly at point guard, opening Roach up to be more aggressive in his shooting and drives to the bucket. Lively locks up on defense while Filipowski fights for points in the post. Mitchell’s intelligent defensive positioning and quick reactions make him a great asset against players of all positions and Whitehead, injury record aside, is probably the most natural offensive weapon in Duke’s locker room.
What happens when all the puzzle pieces fit together? You begin to see the big picture and lose sight of the individual pieces.
“I'm not too worried about scoring,” Proctor said. “Somebody's gonna come try and make the right read and get guys good looks. We put up as many points as we did tonight and keep getting stops, we win games.”
Duke has one ACC road game left — against North Carolina, no less — before it takes on the conference tournament and, barring catastrophe, the NCAA tournament as well. None of those games will take place on home soil or in front of the hyper-partisan crowd of Cameron Crazies that has made Cameron Indoor a fortress this season.
That is not to insinuate that the Blue Devils are doomed, nor that they are favored to win it all. Rather, it is a blunt indication that more of what happened Saturday night needs to happen in the next few weeks. This is not a matter of road fatigue or a psychological block, but a matter of getting this group of talented players to fit together like a puzzle.
“If I'm having 30-40 points and not winning, I don't like that,” Proctor said. “We're just trying to get everyone involved and just making the team better.”
Saturday’s win gave Duke the key to the riches behind the stronger, sturdier and more stubborn vaults coming its way. If the Blue Devils can maximize each player’s strengths — Whitehead’s shooting, Lively’s rim protection, Filipowski’s driving, Proctor’s passing and Roach’s pulling up for jumpers — they can effectively transcend the occasion, no matter how daunting it may seem.
Proctor’s two-word summary of what this game has the potential to do moving forward perhaps puts it best: “It’s huge.”
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Andrew Long is a Trinity senior and recruitment/social chair of The Chronicle's 120th volume. He was previously sports editor for Volume 119.