The Duke Blue Devils continued their winning ways with an 86-66 victory over the Syracuse Orange at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
This is the fifth straight victory for the Blue Devils (10-3, 1-1) and their ninth straight victory in the series.
Sophomore forward Mark Mitchell led the team with his career-high 21 points and 6 rebounds. A second-half surge helped put five Blue Devils scoring in double figures. Freshman guard Jared McCain added 18 points, going 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. The career nights weren’t just limited to the Blue Devils, as sophomore forward Maliq Brown led the Orange (10-4, 1-2) with 26 points off the bench.
Takeaway #1: Mitchell kept Blue Devils in the game despite poor team shooting
Just taking a look at the halftime score, it would look like a balanced effort from both teams on both ends of the court. Unfortunately for the DukeBlue Devils, no other player had more than five points going into the break.
The bright spot for the Blue Devils was Mitchell. The Kansas City, KS native seemingly couldn’t be stopped in the first half as the Orange focused their defensive attention elsewhere. Second-year head coach Jon Scheyer felt the first half was disjointed, due to having three players with two fouls and sophomore center Kyle FIlipowski only playing seven minutes.
“I am proud of [Mitchell] for just trusting the process and doubling down on his work,” Scheyer said. “I thought he was himself tonight and it really showed by Jeremy [Roach] being out, [Filipowski] being out in that first half and we’re winning by two.”
Another player who helped give Duke chances to stay in the game was junior guard Jaylen Blakes. The Somerset, NJ native tied a career-high by notching his third game with three steals this season. Scheyer credited him with helping keep the team steady in that first half.
Takeaway #2: Maliq Brown steps up on the big stage
Last year, the sophomore forward was held to six points in a loss to the Blue Devils. He wanted to atone for that performance and make Duke respect him offensively.
The Culpeper, VA native had his best performance offensively at Syracuse, notching career-highs in field goals made, attempted, and in points. He did this while staying relatively clean on the personal fouls.
“He’s kinda just starting to understand how good he can be,” said first-year head coach Adrian Autry. Autry admitted this team is still growing, but this game gave him some excitement about where the team is headed. “We just got to move forward and continue to get better.”
Syracuse had its fourth straight game with over 30 points off the bench, although Brown’s 26 skewed that statistic against Duke. The fact they can get that production off the bench to complement their starters should put the Orange in a position to be a threat come March.
Takeaway #3: Turnovers give Duke new life, threes rained in second half
The first half was very uncharacteristic for the Duke Blue Devils. A team known for their three-point shooting, went 0-for-9 in the first half. They were teetering on their first scoreless night from three since Dec. 30, 1989 against Hawaii.
In what Coach Scheyer jokingly called his best coaching job, his message at halftime was to hit every three they attempted.
Duke responded to that adversity by going 8-for-8 from three range in the second half. “It’s a great lesson for us, just how to continue to break the defense down and score together,” said Scheyer.
One thing that kept the Blue Devils in the game was 17 turnovers by Syracuse, leading to 26 points. Coach Autry said that those were all self-inflicted and would be something they need to improve going forward into the heart of the ACC schedule.
The Orange were averaging 12.4 per game going into this game. Like Autry said, this team is still growing. With a growing team comes growing pains, it is just how the team responds to adversity.
Syracuse will have a week off practice to take the lessons from this loss and apply them to their next game. Duke, on the other hand, will travel to a struggling Notre Dame team looking to right the ship.
Next game for the Syracuse Orange: vs. Boston College (Jan. 10 – 9 p.m.)
Next game for the Duke Blue Devils: at Notre Dame (Jan. 6 – 6 p.m.)