ORANGE NIPPED BY DUKE
Orange hang with Duke, but their run ends in Sweet 16
OMAHA, Neb. — The zone slowed down Duke. It was never going to fully stop the Blue Devils.
Not with big men as talented, smart and patient as Marvin Bagley III (22 points) and Wendell Carter Jr. The freshman forwards made the most of their limited opportunities, combining for 36 points on just 18 shot attempts and 20 rebounds as secondseeded Duke held off No. 11 Syracuse and its trademark 2-3 zone, 69-65, advancing to Sunday’s Elite Eight to face top-seeded Kansas in the Midwest Region final at CenturyLink Center.
Even with Duke struggling against the zone, settling for far too many 3-point attempts — the Blue Devils were 5-of-26 from deep with Grayson Allen (15 points, eight assists) missing 11- of-14 — offensively challenged Syracuse couldn’t take advantage, having its own issues with the 2-3 zone that has keyed the Blue Devils’ late surge. Sixteen turnovers led to 18 Duke points, and the Orange made just 4-of-13 from deep, far too often just passing the ball around the perimeter until the shot clock got deep.
Of course, few expected Syracuse to last this long. It was a surprise when coach Jim Boeheim’s team received an at-large bid, and an even bigger one when the group knocked off high-powered opponents in 11th-seeded Arizona State, No. 6 TCU and No. 3 Michi- gan State. Even facing Duke’s team of NBA prospects, the Orange were never out of it, getting within a single possession in the final moments.
New Jersey’s Tyus Battle led Syracuse with 19 points and added five assists, and Oshae Brissett came on to score 13 of his 15 points after halftime. Gary Trent Jr. hit the game’s biggest shot for Duke, a running onehander with 51.7 seconds to go to push the lead to five.
Syracuse did have the ball down three, but Duke fouled Battle with 7.0 seconds to go rather than allow him to attempt a game-tying 3-pointer. He made just one free throw and Trent iced it with two free throws at the other end.
Syracuse started the second half well, scoring on its first two possessions to slice the deficit to three, leading Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski to call a time out and angrily rip off his sports jacket. Duke tried to land the haymaker over the next several minutes, twice pushing the lead to nine, but the Orange responded each time with a basket, unwilling to go away.
Syracuse started strong, frustrating Duke with its zone, and held a 27-24 lead with 5:20 left in the half. Then the Orange offense went to sleep, a familiar pattern this year. They committed four turnovers, missed six straight shots, and the Blue Devils took advantage, reeling off 10 straight points to go into the break up 34-27, snatching away the momentum.
Battle was the lone Syracuse player to have it, making his first shots and scoring 11 of his team’s 27 points. Brissett and Frank Howard shot a combined 1-of-12 from the field. Duke had far better balance, as expected, with Allen, Carter and Bagley combining for 25 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Carter finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The free-throw line helped. Duke went there 16 times, and made 11 from the charity stripe, while Syracuse went just twice in the first half.