The Syracuse basketball team takes on the Duke Blue Devils tonight at 7 pm at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Syracuse is an 11-point underdog for the game.
Syracuse basketball is coming off back-to-back routs of Boston College and Clemson. Duke is reeling, after consecutive losses to Clemson and Notre Dame. This should be an excellent matchup of two teams in need of another win. Syracuse is desperate due to their abysmal 0-4 conference start, and Duke needs to prove that they are better than just an average team this year.
After a solid 14-2 start to the season, Duke’s short bench and injury woes finally seem to be catching up with them. A surprising loss to a very talented Clemson team was followed up by a very poor defensive performance against Notre Dame and their second straight dropped game. There are lots of question marks for the Blue Devils, and they better answer them quickly or Syracuse could steal this game.
Duke is led by sophomore guard Grayson Allen, who is second in the ACC in scoring at 20.2 points per game. He’s also shooting 41% from 3 and 49% overall, while grabbing nearly 5 rebounds and 4 assists per contest. Allen is a dynamic scorer who can hit the open shot, slash into the lane, and even touts a solid mid-range game. At 6’5, he’s also got the size to match up well against Michael Gbinije.
Duke also boasts another terrific scorer in Brandon Ingram, who’s averaging 16.8 points and 5.9 rebounds a game. He too is an excellent 3-point shooter, hitting 40% of his attempts. The one-two punch of Allen and Ingram has proved a nightmare for teams to stop, and is one of the reasons Duke is 2nd in the country in points per game at 86.9. It will be paramount for SU to shut down or at least contain both of them if they want a chance to win.
Duke has a bevvy of other talented offensive players including Matt Jones, Luke Kennard, Amile Jefferson, and Derrick Thornton. Thankfully for Syracuse, Jefferson looks to still be out this game with a leg injury, which is a huge loss for them as he is their leading rebounder and a serious inside threat.
With all of that offensive firepower, how can Syracuse hope to stay in this game? Here are four of the keys for SU to keep it close. If they can be successful in these four areas, they will have a real shot at stealing a win here.