The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Okafor rallies Blue Devils
Freshman’s ninth double-double overcomes Orange.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Jahlil Okafor had 23 points and 13 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season, outplaying Syracuse big man Rakeem Christmas as No. 4 Duke beat the Orange 80-72 on Saturday night.
Duke (22-3, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its fifth straight and withstood a standout performance from ex-Blue Devil Michael Gbinije, who scored a career-high 27 points for Syracuse.
Syracuse (16-9, 7-5) led 39-36 at the break, but the Blue Devils began the second half with a 13-2 run as Christmas struggled, missing twice from in close with Okafor leaning on him as Okafor began to assert himself inside, scoring eight points in the first 5 minutes.
Quinn Cook’s second 3-pointer of the game gave Duke a 43-39 edge with 17:42 left, and Okafor hit twice around a runner by Tyus Jones to give the Blue Devils a 4941 lead.
Unable to close the gap for nearly eight minutes, Syracuse finally narrowed it to 66-62 with 3:51 left on a mid-range jumper by Christmas and two free throws by Tyler Roberson.
Okafor’s slam and two free throws by Jones helped keep the Orange at bay, and Cook swished six straight free throws in the final 30 seconds. Okafor finished 10 of 15 from the floor.
Cook scored 17 points, Jones had 11 points and six assists, and Justise Winslow added 12 points before fouling out for Duke.
Christmas finished 5 of 17 for 11 points and grabbed six rebounds, three below his average. Roberson had a career-high 19 points, and Trevor Cooney added 11 on 4-for-14 shooting for the Orange.
Despite Syracuse’s impending self-imposed NCAA tournament ban, the game attracted a sellout crowd of 34,446. That matched the Carrier Dome record set last year when the teams, guided by the two winningest coaches in the history of Division I basketball — Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim have a combined 1,969 victories — met for the first time as members of the ACC.
This game featured two of the most accomplished big men in the country in Syracuse senior Christmas and Duke freshman Okafor.
They both entered the game averaging 18 points, and Okafor led the ACC in shooting (66.5 percent). Both struggled in the first half, Okafor slamming the court after one of his six misses in the period and Christmas shooting just 1-for-7.
Duke went hard at Christmas early on, and despite falling behind 18-12, the strategy worked for the Blue Devils. Christmas picked up his second foul midway through the first half.
Gbinije, who played one nondescript year at Duke before transferring, took charge for Syracuse, hitting three 3-pointers in a span of less than two minutes to break a tie and give the Orange a 2718 lead with 6:18 left in the opening half.
Okafor stopped the Orange rush with a shot off the glass, and Winslow followed with a threepoint play.