Duke Basketball: Blue Devils can’t execute down the stretch, fall to ‘Cuse
The Duke Basketball team lost to the Syracuse Orange in overtime without Tre Jones and Cam Reddish.
It was a horrible night for the Duke Blue Devils from the start.
Just before tipoff it was announced that Cam Reddish would not play in this game due to an illness.
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However, the Blue Devils jumped out to a 12-0 lead but after Syracuse would cut into the lead at 14-6, Tre Jones was going for a loose ball and Frank Howard collided with him.
Jones stayed down in a heap of pain and made his way to the locker room and would not return.
Duke officially announced that the injury was a right shoulder injury and that he would be questionable to return. Before the second half started, Duke announced that Jones would not return to the game.
After the game Mike Krzyzewski told the assembled media that Jones is dealing with a “shoulder sprain” and also said that he thinks Jones will be “out for a while”. The Blue Devils host the No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday.
In the brief time that Jones played, he had two points, two assists, and four steals.
Once Jones went down, Duke’s defense completely changed and Syracuse was able to get just about any look they wanted at the basket and they were able to convert.
The Orange were led by 32 points from Tyus Battle along with his four assists and rebounds.
Syracuse also got exceptional contributions from Elijah Hughes who had 20 points, Frank Howard had 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists. However, Paschal Chukwu chipped in for 10 points and was a monster on the glass with 18 rebounds, nine on the offensive end and nine on the defensive end.
As for the Blue Devils, they were unable to execute down the stretch, settling for too many 3-point shots and not getting Zion Williamson enough touches in the post.
Williamson was 12-of-20 from the floor, one of five from 3-point range, and 10-of-14 from the free throw line as he finished with 35 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks.
R.J. Barrett was eight-of-30 from the floor, four-of-17 from 3-point range, and he made all three of his free throw attempts, for 23 points. Barrett fell one assists shy of a triple double, grabbing 16 rebounds and nine assists.
In a surprise, Duke was able to get nice contributions off the bench from Marques Bolden and Alex O’Connell.
Bolden finished with a double-double in 12 points and 11 rebounds to go along with five blocks. O’Connell had 16 points, on four-of-eight shooting from 3-point range.
However, the normally consistent Jack White was horrific in this game, missing all ten of his shot attempts, which all came from 3-point range. He did manage to grab six rebounds and have five assists.
Overall, this was a game Duke should have won despite the injuries they sustained, but it was a game that Syracuse needed to win, especially with Duke’s injuries because of the bad losses they have already sustained this year.
The good news for Duke is that Cam Reddish should be back in the lineup on Saturday against No. 4 Virginia, but with the status of Tre Jones in question, the Blue Devils have to hope for the best since he is their most important player on offense and on defense.