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