Beyond the Arc: Duke basketball vs. Syracuse

For the first time since the 2006-07 season, the Blue Devils find themselves saddled with a three-game losing streak after suffering a 64-62 defeat to Syracuse in Cameron Indoor Stadium. With the loss Duke fell to 3-3 in ACC play and will now hit the road for games against N.C. State, Miami and Georgia Tech: 

Revisiting the three keys to the game:

• Win the defensive glass: This might have been the difference in the game. The Orange collected 26 offensive boards for 17 second-chance points and extended possessions all evening after solid defense by the Blue Devils. Duke looked feeble at times on the defensive glass, failing to box out and enabling Syracuse to cushion their woeful 35 percent shooting. Junior Tyler Roberson led his team with 12 offensive rebounds, tacking on another eight on the defensive end.
• Stay out of foul trouble: After being a huge factor in the Blue Devils’ previous two losses to Notre Dame and Clemson, foul trouble did little to slow Duke against Syracuse. Matt Jones picked up a fourth foul midway through the second half that forced him to take a seat, but he was back on the floor down the stretch. A lack of foul calls—especially in the waning seconds of the game when several Orange players made contact with Matt Jones on consecutive plays—drew the ire of head coach Mike Krzyzewski and much of the crowd.
• Shoot the 3-ball well: The Blue Devils had no problem shooting the three Monday—they just had trouble shooting it well. Duke hoisted 37 shots from beyond the arc, of which only 10 found their way through the net. Perimeter shooting is always a critical factor when Duke goes up against Jim Boeheim's patented 2-3 zone defense. It’s clear that the Blue Devils intended to ride the deep ball against Boeheim’s zone, but they just could not knock down enough to crush the Orange.

Three key plays

• 0:00, first half: Grayson Allen makes a three—then he doesn’t. This was a game that was won and lost in the final 10 seconds, but before discussing the second half, let's take a look at the final seconds of the first. Charging up midcourt, a leaping, lunging Allen nearly sunk a three that would have catapulted Duke to a six-point lead heading into the break—if only his release was a few milliseconds quicker. The airmail hit its target, but the refs went to the monitor and eventually called it back. 
• 0:34, second half: Center Marshall Plumlee makes a layup with less than a minute on the clock and his team trailing by two possessions. The graduate student muscled his way through the paint and finagled the ball into the basket with finesse. It was the play his team needed him to make, bringing the Blue Devils within one basket of a win
• 0:07: Malachi Richardson corrals a rebound off Allen’s potentially game-winning layup. A scrum ensued hustling after the loose ball and Richardson came up with it after a lot of contact to Jones near the foul line. Syracuse executed on defense on the final play of the game and put a bright and shiny bow on their first win in Cameron since joining the ACC.

Three key stats:

• Syracuse hauls in 26 offensive rebounds: Again, it all comes back to rebounding. Roberson corralled 20 total boards against the Blue Devils, breaking a Cameron Indoor record for most rebounds by a visitor set back in 1957. As a team, Syracuse outrebounded Duke 22-16 on the offensive glass, giving them key extra chances to score. On a day when the Blue Devils weren’t shooting the ball too hot, this turned out to be the stat of the night.
• Duke shoots 5-of-21 from deep in the first half: For a while, it looked at if the Blue Devils might never hit a three. The Blue Devils missed their first eight shot attempts—six of them from range—and did not find the net until 14:43 when Jones sunk the first trey of the game. Duke’s dependence on the triple and inability to shoot consistently from beyond the arc throughout the game was a key factor in their third loss in six days.
• Marshall Plumlee sets a new career high 19 points: The Blue Devils might lament their three-game losing streak and the possibility of being unranked team next Monday, but they have a silver lining in Plumlee. The Warsaw, Ind., native had a strong game against the Orange, leading his team with 19 points and 17 rebounds—11 of which came on the offensive end. Plumlee put in a lot of hours improving his game during the summer, and it looks like all his work is beginning to pay off.

And the Duke game ball goes to… Marshall Plumlee