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DURHAM, N.C. — Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said his team’s spacing in the second half was the “biggest culprit” for Tuesday’s loss.

He felt it was better in the first half, but in the second, Syracuse (10-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) had a tendency to clog itself offensively in the gaps and force plays, allowing Duke defenders to force turnovers in the lane. The 17 turnovers, and subsequent Blue Devils’ points off of them, plagued the Orange, resulting in an 86-66 defeat to No. 14 Duke (10-3, 1-1 ACC).

What was once a 35-33 game at halftime soon swelled. The Blue Devils went from ice cold to blazing hot from beyond the arc — they had gone from 0-of-9 in the first half to a perfect 8-of-8 in the second. And as quickly as Duke snapped out of its 3-point shooting struggles, it snapped Syracuse’s five-game winning streak.

“Duke is a good defensive team,” Autry said. “I thought some of the times our spacing wasn’t where it needed to be. We just had live-ball turnovers that led to 3-point shots.”

Nine of the 17 turnovers came in the second half. Naheem McLeod was called for an illegal screen just nine seconds into the second half, resulting in a 3-pointer for Jared McCain on the next Blue Devil possession.

That Syracuse turnover and Duke basket combo became a familiar sight for the Orange in the second half. The Blue Devils finished with 26 points off of SU’s mistakes and had 21 points on the fast break.

Still a game within reach as SU trailed 44-41, Chris Bell tried to find J.J. Starling in the corner. But Duke clogged the baseline defensively and Syracuse congested it even more with three players in the same vicinity. Caleb Foster jumped up and picked off Bell’s pass, leading the offensive transition by delivering a cross-court pass to Jeremy Roach for the fast break lay-in. Autry called timeout, down 46-41.

“We’ve done such a better job impacting the ball…but also being active off the ball,” said Duke head coach Jon Scheyer. “I thought we did a good job in and out of our gaps, getting in passing lanes but also having active lanes.”

For the first 27 minutes of the game, Syracuse kept it close with the Blue Devils, trailing by no more than six at any given point and even leading twice. The Orange had out-rebounded the Blue Devils 25-17 in the first half, and played aggressively and attacked the basket down low.

Aside from an earlier 9-7 lead after a Starling triple, Quadir Copeland grabbed a tough rebound and pushed the pace. He found Judah Mintz, who drove into the lane for a tough, contested layup, pounding his chest as SU led 21-20. Mintz finished with 18 points and six assists, but had five turnovers.

The Blue Devils shot 8-for-8 from 3-point range in the second half en route to their 86-66 victory over the Orange. Photo Courtesy of Laura Cai | The Chronicle

Duke’s first-half go-to was Mark Mitchell, who scored 18 of his career-high 21 points in the opening periodh. He scored eight consecutive points for the Blue Devils to put them back in front, throwing down an easy slam off a pass from Tyrese Proctor. Then, after Mintz was stripped of the ball on a free throw jumper, Mitchell scored inside with a foul.

It was Mitchell’s show in the first half while the second was dominated by Roach, McCain, Kyle Filipowski and Proctor.

Starling drove down the right side of the lane, dishing to Copeland, who cut on the other side. Copeland couldn’t corral it among three Duke defenders — Maliq Brown had brought his defender toward Copeland by moving into the paint. Proctor led the transition with Roach before McCain drained the right wing 3-pointer.

“That’s something we’ve been working on especially from last year,” Justin Taylor said of spacing. “I think that’s a big change for us.”

Two baskets later, Copeland dribbled around Brown from the wing to the free throw area but found himself among three Duke defenders. McCain stole it, dribbling and settling for a 3-pointer on the other end. The bucket closed out a 13-2 run that gave Duke a 13-point lead midway through the second half.

In the second half, Syracuse didn’t put itself in contention like it had in the first. Brown said Duke built off that defensive momentum to find open baskets on the perimeter. The Blue Devils shot 75 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.

“The thing that I was proud of is that we just made the right play,” Scheyer said on the offensive transition. “It’s contagious when you do that.”

Brown served as a bright spot for Syracuse, notching a career-high 26 points. The bulk of his field goals came from down low with dunks or layups, but he did make a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

The 3-pointer by Brown had Syracuse trailing 77-62 with five minutes remaining and by that point, the Orange had flattened. A few minutes earlier, Mintz tried an alley-oop to Copeland but it clanked the front end of the rim, allowing Roach to get a fast break layup.

And it was only fitting that the final basket was a 3-pointer by Duke. Proctor brought the game to its first 20-point lead with just under 30 seconds remaining, the final touch of a 51-point second half that gave the Blue Devils their first conference win.

“Once they started getting out and getting easy buckets, we started turning the ball over, kind of getting crammed,” Taylor said. “That obviously hurt us.”

Published on January 2, 2024 at 11:34 pm

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