Gameday Preview: Duke at Syracuse – Weds Feb 5th 2025

The Duke Blue Devils (19-2, 11-0 ACC) travel to Syracuse to take on the Orange (10-12, 4-7 ACC) Wednesday evening. Duke transfer Maliq Brown returns home to the school he began his career at as the Devil’s look to avoid an upset in a trap game before their big matchup with Clemson this weekend. 

The Blue Devils have dominated the Orange over the past five seasons going 9-0 in their matchups with only one result being within 10 points. The Orange have an uphill battle as they give up 77 points a game while the Blue Devils score 80. Even more alarming for the Orange is that they rank 202 in the nation in scoring offense netting 72 points a game. Syracuse will struggle to get points against an elite Duke defense ranked in the top 5 of the KenPom rankings in defensive efficiency. 

The Orange halted a 3 game skid as they defeated the California Golden Bears over the weekend, 75-66. Syracuse led wire-to-wire over Cal as they leapt out to a 9-0 advantage in the first three minutes of the game. Lucas Taylor of the Orange scored 19 points while J.J. Starling added 18 more. Cal’s leading scorer, Andrej Stojakovic missed his fourth consecutive game.

The Blue Devils come into Syracuse riding the nation’s longest winning streak at 15 games, an undefeated conference record, and a dismantling of their rival Tar Heels 87-70 on Saturday. The Cuse are running into a buzzsaw of a Blue Devils team lead by Wooden Award favorite Cooper Flagg. Flagg scored 21 points against the Tar Heels along with 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Fellow freshman Kon Knueppel led the Devils in scoring with 22 points as Tyrese Proctor added an additional 17. The Blue Devils led by as much as 32 points in the second half as they held RJ Davis to 12 points and freshman guard Ian Jackson to 8. 

Key Points

Syracuse

• The three point basket needs to be their friend. The Orange will need to make well over their average of 6 threes a game to give the Blue Devils any worry. Teams that have overperformed from the arc have given the Blue Devils some trouble this season
• Disrupt Duke’s offensive rhythm. This means going from man to the old school 2-3 zone. Make the Duke freshman think on the go and force them into taking bad shots
• Limit turnovers. The Blue Devils built their lead over the Tar Heels by getting steals and pushing the ball on the break. The Orange will need to limit Duke’s fast break opportunities and force them to be half-court oriented. 

Duke

• Control the boards. The Blue Devils lost the rebounding battle against the Tar Heels Saturday which allowed them to extend possessions and make the Blue Devils play defense longer. The Blue Devils need to control the defensive boards to start their fast break offense.
• Keep the Maliq Brown train rolling. Last year at Syracuse, Brown led the ACC with 71 steals. This year, he has 94 deflections and is second on the Blue Devils in total steals. Brown has 8 deflections Saturday night, disrupting the Tar Heels. Look for Brown to continue his defensive masterclass and reap havoc on the Orange
• Caleb Foster coming out party. Foster has lost his confidence with the Blue Devils, never finding his footing since coming back from injury and losing his starting spot. Foster’s stats are down across the board this season. Duke is a 17.5 point favorite, meaning Foster should get significant minutes. Foster needs to hunt for his shot to get his swagger back. 

Next up, Syracuse hosts Boston College (10-11, 2-8 ACC) in a game they are favored to win. 

The Blue Devils continue their road trip as they head to Clemson to take on the Tigers who are sitting one game behind the Blue Devils in conference with a record of 18-4, 10-1 in the ACC.