Recap: Duke Blue Devils Start Slow, Hold off Syracuse Late

The Duke Blue Devils overcame a slow start and a career night from Michael Gbinije to earn a 80-72 victory over the Syracuse Orange.

Gbinije, formerly a Duke Blue Devil who transferred to Syracuse, set a new career high with 27 points. Duke had no answer for him in the first half. 19 of his 27 points came in the first half, but was held in check in the second.

Duke opened the second half trailing 39-36, but quickly found themselves in the lead. The Blue Devils went on a 13-2 run in the first 5 minutes of the second half. Duke turned a 39-36 deficit into a 49-41 lead and were seemingly in control.

The Blue Devils were playing well on both ends of the floor and were on the verge of blowing the Orange out of their own building. Duke was controlling the game and took a 61-50 lead with 10:09 left to play.

Once Duke got up by 11 they took their foot off the gas, which allowed Syracuse to get back in the game. The Orange fought back and were only down by four points with 2:27 to play. Duke managed to hold off a late rally by Syracuse and escape the Carrier Dome with an 80-72 victory.

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The Blue Devils got off to another slow start against the Orange on Saturday night, but found a way to close the gap before halftime. A combination of poor shooting and a standout performance by a former Blue Devil, Duke found itself down by 11 with 3:10 left to play in the half.

Much of the first half was tightly contested, but with the game tied at 18 Syracuse went on a 16-5 run. Trailing 34-23, the Blue Devils needed to find an answer. Duke found their answer and reduced their deficit to three points.

Cook, Winslow and Matt Jones each hit a 3-point shot during Duke’s run to get back in the game before the end of the half.

Keys to Victory:

Rebounding. The Blue Devils have been a great rebounding team all year and it was no different on Saturday night. Duke pulled in 42 rebounds, 13 offensive rebounds, while Syracuse recorded only 32 rebounds. Winning the rebounding battle is important to ultimately winning the game.

Feb 14, 2015; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange forward Rakeem Christmas (25) controls the ball against the defense of Duke Blue Devils center Jahlil Okafor (15) during the second half at the Carrier Dome. Duke defeated Syracuse 80-72. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Jahlil Okafor. Okafor was dominant once again. He finished the game with 23 points and 4 rebounds. Okafor also shot 10-15 from the field and 3-4 from the free-throw line. Okafor was dominate on offense against the Syracuse zone and also played well on defense. He was matched up against Rakeem Christmas. Christmas was limited to 11 points and 6 rebounds, but shot extremely poor from the field. Christmas went 5-17 from the field, and many of those shots were around the basket.

What’s Next for Duke:

The Blue Devils improved to 22-3 overall and 9-3 in ACC play. The next game is an important one. The Duke Blue Devils square off with the North Carolina Tar Heels on Wednesday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium. This will be the first match-up of the season between the two and one that is always tightly contested.

If Duke has any chance of winning the ACC regular season title then they must win the rest of their games.