There was no doubt left about an emotional hangover in this one.

Duke took care of business with an 83-54 throttling of Syracuse on Wednesday night at JMA Wireless Dome.

The Blue Devils (20-2, 12-0 ACC) have won 16 straight games and made quick work of the Orange after Saturday night’s win against North Carolina. In each of the past four seasons, the winner of the first Duke-UNC matchup had lost its next game.

Any threat of that continuing for a fifth straight year was quelled.

“These guys have been mature on their own,” coach Jon Scheyer said via post-game radio interview. “We talk to them and they respond to you. There’s never been a time this year they haven’t responded.

“For them to listen and to respond the whole way, that’s special.”

Duke’s lead was 14 at halftime and that was after a sluggish start offensively. The Blue Devils pushed the lead past 20 in the first seven minutes of the second half, taking a 52-31 lead on a layup by Sion James.

The lead stayed above 20 for all but 17 seconds of the rest of the game, and went to 31 on a vicious one-handed dunk by Isaiah Evans — after a Khaman Maluach block ignited a 1-on-1 fast break.

Tyrese Proctor led Duke with 16 points, making four of Duke’s nine 3-pointers. Kon Knueppel scored nine of his 12 points in the first half; Cooper Flagg had something of a quiet game for his standards, with 11 points, five rebounds and two assists; and James and Evans had 10 points apiece.

“They don’t switch off-ball … I had teammates do a great job finding me in my pocket,” Proctor said via radio interview.

Former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown was plus-24 in 22 minutes for his return to the JMA Wireless Dome. He had six points, eight rebounds, three steals and an assist.

“Maliq was awesome,” Scheyer said. “His steals and activity on defense, his passing on offense, I thought he played with great energy. He was terrific.”

Duke scored in the first 10 seconds of the game, a Knueppel layup. But offense was hard to come by for the first six minutes, with the Blue Devils holding a slim 8-7 lead.

Things changed when they started hitting 3s.

Flagg started that barrage. Evans knocked one down against a 2-3 zone — still seen every once in a while, post-Jim Boeheim — and then Proctor and James knocked down 3s in the next couple of minutes.

Scheyer had to play some interesting frontcourt combinations because Mason Gillis did not travel with the team; he was sick, the program announced shortly before the game. For a few possessions in the first half, Duke had Flagg playing the 3-position, Brown at the 4, and Patrick Ngongba II playing center.

According to EvanMiya, Brown and Ngongba had never played possessions together this season.

TIP-INS: Duke was outrebounded for the second straight game, 33-32. … Duke’s e-FG clip was 65.1%, marking the second straight game it’s been above 60 after two games in the 40s against Wake Forest and N.C. State. In 12 of 22 games this season, Duke’s e-FG percentage has been above 60. … Evans had a season-high four assists; he had seven assists in 18 games before Wednesday night’s game. … J.J. Starling and Jyare Davis led Syracuse (10-13, 4-8) with 12 points apiece. Starling was 5-for-15 from the field, often guarded by Proctor, and scored seven of his points in the first few minutes.