Few gave Syracuse basketball a chance to upset #7 Duke in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday with the Orange not having Buddy Boeheim due to a suspension. The players, however, did believe and nearly pulled off a monumental triumph but faded in the final few minutes as the Blue Devils topped Syracuse 88-79. With the loss, Syracuse falls to 16-17 on the season.
"It was a tremendous effort," coach Boeheim said. "I could not be more proud of my team."
Syracuse fell behind by as many as 11 in the first half, but went on a 20-6 run to take a four point lead into halftime. The lead grew to as many as seven for the Orange, but Duke battle back behind an 8-0 run midway through the first half to take the lead. The Blue Devils advantage grew to five with about five minutes to play, but Syracuse, once again, battled back to give itself a chance.
Without Buddy, Syracuse's rotation was essentially at six, with Symir Torrence getting the start in his place. Torrence had seven points and 11 assists. Jimmy Boeheim did everything in his power to extend Syracuse's ACC Tournament stay, scoring a game high 28 points, grabbing seven rebounds and snatching three steals on 11-20 shooting including 6-9 from beyond the arc.
Joe Girard starting at shooting guard, and scored 23 points with four made three pointers.
Wendell Moore led Duke with 26 points and eight assists. Jeremy Roach came off the bench to score 19 points.
Syracuse shot 40% for the game and 42% from beyond the arc, compared to 48% and 34% for Duke. The Blue Devils won the rebounding battle 43-39 and dominated points in the paint 40-14.
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