Big Monday could’ve been a trap for the Duke basketball team after a notable conference victory against Clemson and its showdown with No. 1 Michigan looming on Saturday night, but it was the easiest walk in the park instead.
The No. 3 Blue Devils romped Syracuse, 101-64, inside Cameron Indoor Stadium – and that might’ve been putting it lightly.
Duke (24-2, 13-1 ACC) did whatever it wanted against the Orange who have continued its fall from grace in college basketball. The first half ended with an 11-0 run over the final 2:35 that turned a five-point game into a 16-point lead, 40-24.
The second half was even worse for the Orange (15-12, 6-8 ACC), who somehow shot 50-percent (16-of-32) from the field and 54.5-percent (6-for-11) from 3-point range in the second half and were still outscored by 21 points, 61-40, because the Blue Devils made 71.9-percent (23-of-32) from the floor and 75.0-percent (9-for-12) from distance.
Cameron Boozer recorded a double-double in the first half and ended the game with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
Isaiah Evans continued his hot shooting with 21 points while Nik Khamenia got hot in the second half, scoring 12 of his 14 points with three made triples.
Pat Ngongba and Cayden Boozer each finished with 12 points and nobody on Duke played over 27 minutes heading into one of its biggest games of the season.
The Blue Devils have now won 11 straight games over the Orange as the rivalry between the two teams has fizzled out due to the bottoming of the Syracuse program, which could be searching for new leadership next month.
Duke has only four more regular season games left in conference play after it returns from its bout with the Wolverines in Washington D.C. on Saturday, traveling to Notre Dame next Tuesday night.