Duke makes history with 25-point victory vs. Syracuse
Duke defeated Syracuse 97-72 on Saturday evening, which is a new high-water mark for margin of victory in this series.
The Blue Devils’ 25-point win is just the second time they’ve beaten the Orange by more than 20 points. The first such game came earlier this season.
This is also the first time a Jim Boeheim-led Syracuse team has ever been beaten by 20+ points twice in the same season. That’s per ESPN Stats & Info.
Entering this season, there had not been a 20-point win in the history of Coach K and Jim Boeheim's rivalry.
Duke won 79-59 on Jan. 22.
With their 97-72 victory tonight, Duke becomes the first team to beat Syracuse by 20+ points twice in the same season under Jim Boeheim. pic.twitter.com/G2sfQoQxiN
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 27, 2022
Center Mark Williams was unstoppable in this game. He scored 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting and made 6-of-7 free throw attempts. He also led the game with 12 rebounds.
AJ Griffin scored 20 points and continued his trend of excellent 3-point shooting. He made 6-of-10 shots from beyond the arc.
Paolo Banchero scored 21 points and had one of his best shooting games of the year. He made 4-of-7 from downtown, which set his season-high for made 3-pointers in a game.
Duke was the only team in the top seven of the AP Top-25 poll to win on Saturday. The Blue Devils are likely to see a significant bump in the new poll on Monday and are still in the hunt for a No. 1 seed.
Duke faces Pitt on the road on Tuesday.