Duke faces Syracuse in ACC Quarterfinal

Duke will battle Syracuse in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal on Thursday after the Orange defeated Florida State.

Mark Williams has been a force against Syracuse this season (Photo Credit: Duke Athletics).

Duke’s quarterfinal matchup is now set, as Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim will battle one final time before the Blue Devils’ head coach calls it a career. 

Duke, who won the ACC regular season title and entered the Tournament as the No. 1 seed, will play its first game Thursday at noon, ET, after a double bye. Syracuse opened the ACC Tournament with a blowout victory over Florida State on Wednesday to advance. 

The Orange put together one of their best performances of the year, winning 96-57, while led by a dominating performance from Cole Swider, who finished the game with 28 points and 13 rebounds. He was not the lone Orange to put together a strong performance, however, as Joseph Girard (16 points) and Buddy Boeheim (14 points) also made their presence felt. 

Syracuse also got solid efforts from Jimmy Boeheim (12 points, 6 rebounds) and reserve Frank Anselem (9 points, 15 rebounds). 

Duke and Syracuse met twice this season with the Blue Devils winning by an average of 22.5 points. The Blue Devils were outstanding on defense in both matchups, allowing just 65.5 points in the two games. 

With that, let’s recap the first two matchups and take a look at what to expect on Thursday. 

RECAPPING THE REGULAR SEASON MATCHUPS 

There’s really no way to understate how dominating Duke was this season agains Syracuse. As mentioned, the Blue Devils have a 22.5 average margin of victory over the Orange this season, including a 97-72 rout in the Carrier Dome at the end of February. 

In fact, that performance was one of the Blue Devils most impressive of the season, as they torched the nets and shredded the Syracuse zone. 

Duke’s ability to cut through the Syracuse zone was the theme in both matchups, as was the Blue Devils’ defensive effort. 

Let’s talk about Duke’s offense first. The Blue Devils shot 50.8% from the field and 42% from 3 in the two games. Their success can be directly attributed to how the Blue Devils broke down the zone. While it’s no secret that the key to beating a zone defense is getting the ball in the middle. 

Once you get it there, though, there has to be an ability to put the ball in the right spots or score immediately. Duke can do both those things through Paolo Banchero. 

He was especially hard to handle in the second matchup. Banchero frequently caught the ball a step or two further in the middle toward the basket than what normally might happen. What did that extra step do? It allowed Banchero the ability to get to the hoop quicker, while also forcing the defense to collapse sooner. Once the defense responded, Banchero was brilliant in how he attacked - often dumping the ball off to Mark Williams or kicking it to the perimeter for shooters. 

Paolo Banchero has been Duke’s weapon in the middle of the zone (Photo Credit: Duke Athletics).

It was a clinic, and the result from those two games was Banchero posting an average of 18 points, seven rebounds and 6.5 assists.

His decisiveness with the ball made guys such as Mark Williams and AJ Griffin monster threats. In fact, Williams was a force that Syracuse had absolutely no answer for in either matchup. The 7-footer lived above the rim, and averaged 21.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in those two games. He also missed just four shots combined, making 17-of-21 shot attempts. 

Griffin was also a huge recipient of Banchero’s ability to dissect the zone. The freshman averaged 17.5 points in the two matchups, while 12-of-21 from the field, including 11-of-19 from 3-point range. 

The numbers are just silly between those three. 

It does not end with those three, however. Wendell Moore Jr. averaged 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds in the two games, while making 40% from 3-point range. Then there’s Jeremy Roach, who averaged eight points and six assists in the two games. 

Offensively, Duke was as good against the zone as they were against other defense they faced all season. And there’s really no reason to believe they can’t duplicate the performance.

Boeheim said after the win over Florida State that Duke does things against the zone that no one else can. Cue Banchero. 

As good as Duke’s offense was, the defense was just as stellar. Syracuse averaged just 65.5 points in the two games and shot just 41% from the field and an atrocious 21.2% from 3-point range. 

Buddy Boeheim and Joseph Girard had offensive success in the second game, scoring 23 and 18 points, respectively. But beyond that, there’s not much Syracuse can take from the two games. 

Wednesday’s star, Cole Swider, is averaging just 6.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in the two games with Duke. Boeheim posted 15 points per game, but shot just 20% (4-of-20) from long range. Girard posted 12.5 points, but made only 17.6% from 3. 

Jimmy Boeheim was not very effective either, scoring just 6 points per game and grabbing just two rebounds per night on average. 

Overall, Duke overmatched Syracuse in every facet. 

AJ Griffin has hit better than 50% of his 3-point attempts against Syracuse (Photo Credit: Duke Athletics).

GAME THREE — ACC QUARTERFINALS 

So, with all of that in mind, what do we expect to happen on Thursday?  

Let’s evaluate the situation. It’s not easy to defeat a team three times in a season, much less blow one out three times. That said, if there’s ever a game prime for this — the quarterfinal matchup could be the one. 

Clearly that is a bold statement, but there is a lot playing in Duke’s favor. 

Number one, Duke is angry. The Blue Devils are not happy with how they played in the season finale against North Carolina. So, yes, they should probably be playing with a chip on their shoulders. 

Number two, Buddy Boeheim’s presence is in question — at least at the time this story was published. Boeheim hit Florida State guard Wyatt Wilkes in the stomach with a closed fist in Wednesday’s game. Boeheim was called for a flagrant foul, but the ACC will review the play prior to tomorrow’s game. 

If the league deems Boeheim’s punch to be intentional, which it appears it was based on video replay, the Orange’s leading scorer will be suspended for the game. 

Syracuse will be in major trouble if Boeheim is not allowed to play. If he does not, there’s little doubt that Duke will handle their quarterfinal matchup with little more resistance than they faced in the two regular season games. 

Look for Duke to be ready to make another statement and get off to a strong start in the ACC Tournament.