Blue Devils heat up, shoot down Syracuse

So much for Duke needing to be conservative when it comes to taking a bunch of 3s against Syracuse’s zone.

The Blue Devils made 13 3s in dismantling Syracuse for a 77-55 win over the Orange on Saturday night at JMA Wireless Dome.

Duke (19-8, 10-6 ACC) made its second-most 3-pointers in a game this season, only surpassed by the 14 it made in the fourth game of the season against Bellarmine (which packs its defense in tighter than Syracuse).

The Blue Devils took 35 3-pointers against Bellarmine that November night; Duke only needed 26 3-point attempts to sink Syracuse (16-11, 9-7).

Duke hadn’t made double-digit 3-pointers since New Year’s Eve against Florida State.

Jeremy Roach led Duke with 17 points, as he made three of the 3s. Dariq Whitehead scored 14 and was 4-for-6 from beyond the arc — he’s made 13 of his last 19 3-pointers — and Kyle Filipowski notched his 12th double-double of the season in scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

This game was knotted up at 19-19 before Duke seized control with a 21-2 run across the last several minutes of the first half.

It started with a contested 3-pointer by Jacob Grandison as the shot clock was winding down. That was part of a blazing 7-for-8 clip from long distance to close the half — the only miss was rebounded by Dereck Lively II and kicked out to Roach for a 3.

Syracuse scored the last six points of the first half, so Duke’s halftime lead was only 40-27.

The Orange scored six of the first eight points of the second half — that was the only time in the second half that Duke’s lead wasn’t double digits. The Blue Devils used runs of 8-0 and 7-0 later in the second half to put the game away.

One of the only negatives of the first half was Duke's 10 turnovers; the Blue Devils only committed four of them in the second half.

Duke has its third and final Saturday-Monday swing of the season, returning home for a Monday night game against Louisville.