The author’s name is BOB SUTTON and he is associated with the Associated Press.

On Tuesday evening, No. 14 Duke defeated Syracuse with a final score of 86-66. Mark Mitchell had a career-high of 21 points, with 18 of them scored in the first half. Jared McCain also contributed 18 points to Duke’s victory.

After halftime, Duke successfully made all eight of their 3-point attempts and ended the second half with a 75% shooting percentage from the field.

Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor combined for 31 points to give Duke’s backcourt a strong performance. In the second half, Kyle Filipowski contributed 12 points, helping the Blue Devils (10-3, 1-1 ACC) extend their winning streak to five games.

Maliq Brown scored 26 points, making 11 out of 16 shots, while Judah Mintz contributed 18 points for Syracuse (10-4, 1-2). However, the team struggled with only 4 successful 3-pointers out of 16 attempts and had 17 turnovers.

In the first 10 minutes and 10 seconds of the second half, McCain successfully made four 3-point shots, helping Duke to take a 65-51 lead. The team had missed all nine of their 3-point attempts in the first half, but then made all seven they attempted in the second half, resulting in a lead of more than 10 points.

At the end of the first half, Duke was leading 35-33. Mitchell contributed 18 points to Duke’s score, bringing the sophomore forward close to his personal best.

Both Brown and Mintz scored 12 points in the first half, which helped the team overcome Syracuse’s poor shooting percentage of 34.5% and nine turnovers.

This was the sole planned gathering of the year for these two teams. It occurred a decade after ex-Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim’s infamous storming onto the court of Cameron Indoor Stadium and subsequent expulsion in the final moments of Duke’s close triumph.

BIG PICTURE

The Syracuse team struggled to find their rhythm on offense, and this ended up being their downfall when their defense couldn’t keep up with the perimeter. Despite Brown’s impressive performance, the Orange suffered their ninth consecutive loss against Duke.

Duke University’s basketball team, the Blue Devils, have made at least one 3-point shot in 1,202 consecutive games. As a result, they were expected to have success shooting from beyond the arc. In their most recent games, Duke has shot above 50% from the field in four out of the last five games.

UP NEXT

On January 10, Syracuse will be hosting Boston College.

Duke invites you to explore Notre Dame on Saturday.

Source: wralsportsfan.com