A.J. Griffin made five 3-pointers and was one of four Duke players to finish with 15 points as the No. 6 Blue Devils demolished visiting Syracuse 79-59 on Saturday afternoon in Durham, N.C.
It was a strong bounce-back outing for Duke (15-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) after an overtime loss earlier in the week at Florida State.
Wendell Moore Jr., Paolo Banchero and Mark Williams also had 15 points for the Blue Devils, who drained 14 shots from 3-point range.
Banchero racked up 13 rebounds and Moore handed out eight assists. Duke overcame 15 turnovers and attempted only seven free throws (making five).
Cold-shooting Syracuse made just 17.9 percent (5 of 29) of its 3-point shots and missed half of its 12 free throws.
Jimmy Boeheim and Jesse Edwards led the Orange (9-10, 3-5) with 12 points apiece and Cole Swider added 11.
The backcourt duo of Joe Girard III and Buddy Boeheim combined missed a combined 17 of their 19 3-point tries. They both ended up with seven points.
Duke has won five consecutive meetings with the Orange in a matchup involving the two winningest Division I men’s coaches, Mike Krzyzewski of the Blue Devils and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse.
A Moore 3-pointer stretched Duke’s lead to 50-29 at the 14:39 mark of the second half.
The Blue Devils scored only five points across the last six minutes after their lead ballooned to more than 30 points.
Duke led 36-22 at halftime, with Griffin accounting for 12 points. The Orange made only 2 of 16 treys in the first half and it never got much better.
Duke played without starting guard Trevor Keels, who suffered a leg injury in the second half Tuesday night at Florida State. Jeremy Roach moved back to the starting lineup for the Blue Devils and delivered a game-high nine assists and six points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Joey Baker had 11 points off the Duke bench.
–Field Level Media
