I listed my three keys to victory for Duke to leave the Carrier Dome with a win. The Blue Devils executed on all three in a 97-72 blowout win.
Mark Williams scored a career high with 28 points and added 15 rebounds. Syracuse had no answer for the big man from the opening tip. Freshman All- American Paolo Banchero scored 21 points and dished out 9 assists.
This marked the first time since November 2018 where a Duke trio each scored 20 points in a game with Banchero, Williams and Griffin all reaching the mark.
Beating the zone requires moving the rock and finding the best and most efficient shot, which happened to be on the outside. The Blue Devils, led by AJ Griffin, shot 15-32 from deep (46.9%). Griffin, who was 6-10 from three, missed the record by one. That record is held by former freshman Cam Reddish who hit seven in a contest during his freshman campaign.
Syracuse was led by Buddy Boeheim, who led all Orange players with 23 points, but outside of his scoring, alongside point guard Joe Girard, the Orange were never in contention.
Duke controlled the boards, winning the battle on the glass 38 to 25. The Blue Devils also totaled just six turnovers and tallied 26 assists.
A key for Duke has been jumping out on their opponent from the tipoff, which is what they were able to do on the road, starting the game on a 14-0 run, reaching its largest lead of the game of – 30.
Duke sits atop the ACC standings at 15-3 with a matchup at Pittsburgh Tuesday night at 8PM on the ACC Network.