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Duke Basketball: Blue Devils looking to advance in ACC Tournament

By Kevin Connelly

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 14: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts against the Syracuse Orange during their game in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 14, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 14: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts against the Syracuse Orange during their game in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 14, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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The Duke Basketball team has reached halftime of its quarterfinal matchup in the ACC Tournament with the Syracuse Orange.

Zion Williamson made his return to the court tonight against the Syracuse Orange and head coach Mike Krzyzewski inserted Williamson right back in the starting lineup along side of Tre Jones, Cam Reddish, R.J. Barrett, and Javin DeLaurier, who is starting for the injured Marques Bolden.

While the first Duke baskets of the game were scored by Zion, the Blue Devils looked rather sloppy to start this game, with four turnovers in the first four and a half minutes.

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After missing five weeks, Zion Williamson showed no signs of rust or tiredness, starting the game five of five from the floor with four rebounds, an assist, and two steals.

In the first 20 minutes, Zion finished with 21 points, nine rebounds, an assist, and five steals on nine of nine shooting from the field and making his lone attempt from the 3-point line.

The only aspect of the game that Zion struggled was at the free throw line where he only made

R.J. Barrett also had a dominant first half for the Blue Devils, adding nine points, two rebounds, and two assists, but did pick up two fouls in the first half as Duke leads 34-28 at halftime.

Cam Reddish had a rough half, missing all four of his attempts from the field, totaling only one point along with two rebounds, an assist, and a steal.

With Duke winning by six at halftime, I’d look to extend the lead back to double digits in the second half and then for the Blue Devils to maybe dial it back a little in the second half and Coach K could use his bench more, especially as a date with the North Carolina Tar Heels is looking more and more likely as this game moves along.

The winner of this game between the Blue Devils and the Orange will advance to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament to play the Tar Heels at 9:30pm ET tomorrow night.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham on Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the Syracuse Orange.

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