Duke basketball shows potential in rout against Syracuse
The Duke basketball team showed off its potential in a dominant victory against Syracuse.
Individual talent and ability has never been the question for the Duke basketball team, it has rather been the lack of consistency the Blue Devils showcase around that pure talent on a weekly basis.
That inconsistent was nonexistent on Saturday night in Syracuse, New York.
Jon Scheyer’s program proved to the county that it has the ability to be an elite team in March this season during its 77-55 victory runaway victory against the Orange.
Duke began slow, falling behind 13-9, but once it became comfortable working against the zone of Syracuse it quickly revved up into a machine.
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A 21-2 run over a 4:39 stretch in the first half really put the game out of reach as the shooting from the Blue Devils was a scorching 54.5-percent from the field.
Syracuse never got closer than nine points, 42-33, in the second half after trailing by 13 points at halftime as Jeremy Roach paced the Blue Devils with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
Kyle Filipowski added 14 points and 12 rebounds in the victory while each member of the Duke starting five registered at least six points as the team posted 22 assists on 30 field goals.
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Dariq Whitehead, again, is proving that he is a difference maker for this Duke team.
Whitehead put together another strong showing against Syracuse with 14 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor, 4-of-6 from 3-point range, in just 19 minutes on the floor.
The five-star recruit is averaging 11.0 points per game since returning from his lower leg strain last week and is connecting on 64.2-percent (9-of-14) of his 3-point attempts.
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Duke now enters the portion of its schedule that becomes team friendly with three consecutive home games before ending the regular season on the road against North Carolina.
The Blue Devils host Louisville, which stunned Clemson on Saturday, on Monday night (7:00p.m. ET, ESPN).