Reactions to Duke Basketball’s Loss to Syracuse

The Blue Devils have lost three straight games to unranked conference opponents.

Duke Basketball fell to Syracuse in a tight 66-64 loss, giving the Blue Devils their longest losing streak since the 2006-2007 season. Center Marshall Plumlee had a dominant game, compiling 19 points and 17 rebounds. Here are some of our notes and observations from Duke’s loss to the Orange:

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It’s important to note how deep the ACC is this season. After it seemed like Duke Basketball was beginning to figure things out without Amile Jefferson early on in conference play with dominating performances against Boston College, Wake Forest, and Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils have really struggled lately losing three games in a row to Clemson, Notre Dame, and Syracuse. It seems like every team in the conference has the potential to beat any other team on any given night.

The Blue Devils weren’t able to get things going offensively in this game, shooting only 37.1% from the field and 27% from three. It also appears that the offense is starting to become predictable, and opponents are starting to figure out how to stop Duke from scoring. Outside of Plumlee, Brandon Ingram, and Grayson Allen, the rest of the team combined for 12 points, 6 apiece from Derryck Thornton and Matt Jones. Luke Kennard, who was excellent in a 30-point effort in their last game against Notre Dame, was held scoreless in this game going 0-9 from the field and Jones has continued to be in a shooting slump going 2-11 from the field.

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Offensive rebounds really hurt the Blue Devils in this game, as the Orange were able to grab 24 offensive boards for 17 second chance points. Syracuse forward Tyler Roberson had 20 rebounds by himself, including 12 on the offensive end. Coach K gave Sean Obi the nod over freshman Chase Jeter off the bench in this game, but outside of Ingram and Plumlee no other Blue Devil had more than 4 rebounds and Obi pretty much just accounting for a foul.

The team also showed their youth late in the game by making crucial mistakes. In the last three losses, Duke has been within reach within the last few minutes but took a bad shot, turned the ball over, missed a defensive assignment, or made a mental lapse that has given their opponents chances to hang on and win because the Blue Devils didn’t execute down the stretch. Duke had a couple of opportunities to take the lead in the final seconds against the Orange, but Grayson Allen missed the go-ahead basket with 7 seconds left and Matt Jones missed the final shot of the game, although he should have been awarded with a foul.

Things won’t get easier for the Blue Devils as they look to get back on track. Duke Basketball will travel to play at NC State this weekend before heading to 15th ranked Miami on Monday. The Wolfpack are currently last in the ACC and still looking for their first conference win of the season, so they will definitely be desperate for a win and look to replicate the success they had last year when the upset the Blue Devils in Raleigh.