Perfectly predicting the scores of every Duke basketball game this season
By Matt Giles
Predicting the final score of the 24th Duke basketball game this season
Opponent: Syracuse Orange
Date: Feb. 22
Time: To be announced
Location: Durham, N.C. (Cameron Indoor Stadium)
Syracuse’s record last season: 18-14 (10-10 ACC)
Head coach: Jim Boeheim (1065-399 overall record in 45 seasons as a head coach, all coming at Syracuse)
Why Duke will win: Don’t overlook Syracuse, even though the Orange is sure to do like it pretty much always does by hanging out on the NCAA Tournament bubble all season long. Jim Boeheim returns 71.3 percent of his program’s scoring from last season, including two sharpshooters in son Buddy Boeheim and Joseph Girard III. Expect both to give the Blue Devils fits in Durham. But also expect Mike Krzyzewski’s program to squeak out a fourth straight win over Syracuse.
Predicted final score: Duke 80, Syracuse 75
Duke’s predicted overall record to date: 19-5 (14-3 in ACC)