HALFTIME: Syracuse 38, Duke 35

SYRACUSE, N.Y.—Duke's first-ever trip to the Carrier Dome has lived up to its billing so far. The Blue Devils, powered by eight points from Rodney Hood and nine points from Amile Jefferson, trail Syracuse by three headed into the halftime.

Here are some observations from the first half:

• Head coach Mike Krzyzewski went with a different starting lineup for the fourth straight contest, re-inserting Quinn Cook at the point guard slot and bringing in Rasheed Sulaimon from the bench.
• Duke—tops in the ACC in three-point percentage—failed to make much of their perimeter opportunities against the zone, missing their first four long-range attempts and finishing 33.3 percent from beyond the arc for the half—eight percentage points lower than their average.
• Duke has made it to the free throw line just once so far, in contrast to Syracuse, which is a perfect 11-of-11 from the charity stripe.
  
• Duke got on the offensive glass early with eight offensive rebounds for nine second-chance points. Amile Jefferson had three on the offensive end and four total for the half.
• The Orange so far have brought the same balanced scoring attack it has displayed all season Freshman Tyler Ennis sparked the offense early and finished with six points, but Tyler Cooney and C.J. Fair helped Syracuse to hold on to a three-point lead combining for 18 points.