Preview: #2 Duke Blue Devils (19-2, 11-0 ACC) vs. Syracuse Orange (10-12, 4-7 ACC)

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#2 Duke Blue Devils (19-2, 11-0 ACC) vs. Syracuse Orange (10-12, 4-7 ACC)

Wednesday, Feb. 5 • 7 p.m. ET
JMA Wireless Dome (30,286) • Syracuse, NY

TV: ESPN2
Radio: Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD

Duke looks to stay undefeated in league play as they hit the road against the Orange of Syracuse in a Wednesday matchup in the JMA Wireless Dome.

TV/Video Stream ESPN
Play-by-Play Kevin Brown
Analyst Jay Williams
Producer Matthew Bartley

Radio Blue Devil Sports Network
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
In Durham 96.5 FM & 620 AM
SiriusXM 209 or 193

Overall Duke leads, 16-6
In Durham, NC Duke leads, 6-2
at Cameron Indoor Stadium Duke leads, 6-2
In Syracuse, NY Duke leads, 5-2
at JMA Wireless Dome Duke leads, 5-2
Neutral Sites Duke leads, 5-2
Last Meeting @Duke 86, Syracuse 66 (Jan. 2, 2024)

Syracuse owns a 10-12 record, with a record of 4-7 in the ACC – good for 11th in league play. As a team, Syracuse grabs 37.8 caroms per game, fourth in the ACC and 78th nationally.

Syracuse boasts 3 double figure scorers led by J.J. Starling. Starling posts 17.9 points per game, ranking seventh in the ACC. Donnie freeman scores 13.4 points per game and 7.9 rebounds. The 6-foot-9, 205-pound Freeman, a consensus five-star, top-15 national prospect in the 2024 class from Washington, D.C., has missed the past eight games for the Orange due to an injured right foot. Eddie Lampkin scores it at a 10.1 points per game clip, he also leads the Orange on the boards with 9 per game. Lampkin ranks third in the conference and 35th in the country in rebounds per game.

The Blue Devils are 19-2 and 11-0 in the ACC. Duke’s 15-game win streak is the longest by the Blue Devils since the 2012-13 season and their 11-0 start in ACC play is the best by Duke since the 2005-06 season, when the Blue Devils began the ACC slate with 14 consecutive wins. The Blue Devils lead the country in scoring margin (+20.3) and rank fifth in scoring defense (60.0), sixth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.377), 11th in rebound margin (+9.0), 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.66), 22nd in three-pointers per game (10.0) and 27th in assists per game (17.0) – all top marks in the ACC. Duke is the only team in the country ranked among the top-five in both offensive (5th) and defensive efficiency (3rd), according to KenPom and the only Division I team to score 80 points or more per game (80.3) and hold its opponents 60 points or fewer per game (60.0).

Cooper Flagg, who turned 18 years old on Dec. 21, tops Duke in points (419), rebounds (167), assists (89), steals (32) and blocked shots (26). Flagg ranks among the ACC’s top-10 in all five major statistical categories – scoring (2nd), rebounding (7th), assists (7th), blocks (9th) and steals (10th). Kon Knueppel is averaging 13.5 points per game, 3.8 boards and 2.7 assists. Knueppel shot-2-of-4 from behind the arc against the Tar Heels. Duke is now 16-0 when the freshman connects on two or more three-pointers. Junior Tyrese Proctor is shooting 39% from 3-point range. The Australian is averaging 10.7 points per game. In the last eight games, Sion James has distributed 34 assists with just nine turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.8. Maliq Brown, who topped the ACC with 71 steals last season as a member of the Syracuse Orange, tops the Blue Devils with an astonishing 94 deflections (eight vs. UNC), an average of 5.9 per game, and is second on the squad with 24 steals.

PG Sion James 6’6, 220lbs – Grad Transfer
SG Tyrese Proctor 6’6, 183lbs – Junior
SF Kon Knueppel 6’7, 217lbs – Freshman
PF Cooper Flagg 6’9, 205lbs – Freshman
C Khaman Maluach 7’2, 250lbs – Freshman

G J.J. Starling 6’4, 205lbs – Junior
G Elijah Moore 6’4, 176lbs – Freshman
G Lucas Taylor 6’5, 200lbs – Senior
F Jyáre Davis 6’7, 220lbs – Senior
C Eddie Lampkin Jr. 6’11, 265lbs – Grad Student

Syracuse has a plethora of guards that can get hot, J.J. Starling, a kid that Duke recruited is their lead guard, he’s big, strong, agile and can score it at all 3 levels when he’s on one. Their guards remind me a lot of NC State’s, streaky, but they can get up for a big game. Their guards are excellent at turning the corners offensively and when they get in the paint they are tough to stop. They are all good finishers but also, have the option to kick out to capable shooters. I can see Orange looking to go more 1 on 1 offensively than trying to run sets. It’s probably the only way they’ll be able to put stress on Duke’s defense.

If the Blue Devils can keep them off the glass and guard the perimeter as well as they have for the majority of the season, then Duke shouldn’t have too much stress in this one, but Syracuse is going to come out punching. Duke having some slippage after the UNC game is natural and worrisome, and something Coach Scheyer has to really coach against with this young team.