Duke Drops Syracuse, 83-54

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – No. 2 Duke never trailed en route to an 83-54 victory at Syracuse on Wednesday, Feb. 5. The Blue Devils (20-2, 12-0 ACC) used double-digit scoring performances from five players and scored a season-high 23 points off turnovers to help extend their winning streak to 16 games.

Tyrese Proctor poured in a game-high 16 points, highlighted by four three-pointers, and was joined in double-figures by Kon Knueppel (12), Cooper Flagg (11), Isaiah Evans (10) and Sion James (10). Maliq Brown reeled in a game-high eight rebounds, while also tallying six points, three steals, one assist and one block. Evans and James both dished a team-high four dimes, as Evans set a new career high for assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A quick layup from Kon Knueppel started Duke’s scoring less than 10 seconds into the contest. The Blue Devils held Syracuse to a scoring drought of nearly four minutes and the two teams were knotted at 4 entering the first media timeout. Knueppel scored six of Duke’s first eight points, as the Blue Devils doubled up the Orange, 8-4, with just over 14 minutes remaining in the first half.
• Cooper Flagg scored his first points with a three-pointer, extending Duke’s lead to four, 11-7, at the 13:39 mark. Isaiah Evans and Tyrese Proctor both connected on their first makes from deep shortly after, extending the lead to eight, 17-9, at the halfway point of the opening half. A block by Flagg on one end of the floor, leading to a third straight make from beyond the arc, this time from Sion James, forced a Syracuse timeout.
• Duke’s offense weathered a stretch of four straight misses, using a strong effort on defense to maintain its double-digit lead, 28-18, at the final media timeout of the first half. Proctor drilled his third three-pointer in the dying seconds of the first half, sending Duke into the break with a 14-point edge, 37-23.
• The Blue Devils scored five quick points, while forcing two early Syracuse turnovers, to start the second half. The lead stretched to 19, 46-27, following two free throws by Maliq Brown following the under-16 break. A two-hand stuff by Flagg, with 10:17 on the clock, gave the freshman 11 points, Duke’s fourth double-digit scorer.
• A flurry of dunks, courtesy of Khaman Maluach, Darren Harris and Evans ballooned the lead to over 30, 77-46, forcing a timeout by the Orange with less than four minutes to play. The two teams traded scores down the stretch to end at the 83-54 final margin.

NOTES

• Duke extended its winning streak to 16 games, its longest winning streak since the Blue Devils won 17 consecutive games to begin the 2005-06 season.
• The 16-game winning streak is the longest active stretch in the country.
• Duke improved to 7-0 in road games and has won all but one of those games by at least 11 points, with four of those double-digit wins coming by at least 25 points. 
• With the victory, Duke improved to 12-0 in ACC play. The last time a Duke team won its first 12 conference games was during the 2005-06 campaign, when the Blue Devils began the ACC slate with 14 consecutive wins. 
• The second-ranked Blue Devils are now 309-92 (.771) in ACC regular-season games when ranked as a top-five team in the country.
• Duke head coach Jon Scheyer improved to 74-20 (.787) at the helm of the program.
• With the win, Duke earned its 20th win of the season. The Blue Devils have reached the 20-win threshold in each of Scheyer’s first three seasons as head coach.