6 takeaways from Syracuse's 86-66 loss to Duke

Syracuse was routed on the road on Tuesday evening, 86-66, by Duke. Here are the main takeaways from the loss.

Duke’s sizzling second half shooting grabbed the headlines, but they stayed in the game by getting first half points inside.The Blue Devils notched a jump shot to open the scoring, then got lay-ups for their next six baskets, three of them coming on fast breaks. They added another lay-up and two dunks in the half, finishing the session with 26 of their 35 points in the paint.

Part of that was that, too often in transition, Syracuse players would get back on defense without actually picking up a man or stopping the ball. Duke’s big push in the second half was marked by open looks in transition, including a pair of 3s.

The Orange gave up 26 points off turnovers and 21 fast break points, as the Blue Devils stole a page from SU’s playbook.

Quadir Copeland had a rough night, but part of that came from accepting the open shots the Duke defense gave him. Copeland finished the night 2-of-9 from the field with six shots from behind the arc, including both his makes.

The reserve also had four turnovers, matching his season high set against both Cornell and New Hampshire.

Chris Bell had a night to forget. In his first stint on the floor that lasted 2:47, Bell had a missed 3-pointer, mishandled the ball on a drive that ended with him throwing it away, and committed two fouls.

His 11 minutes of play marked a season low as he finished with more fouls or turnovers (three) than points (two).

Naheem McLeod and Justin Taylor were both caught in bad matchups from the opening tip. McLeod had to try to corral the active Mark Mitchell and Taylor was stuck with the inside-out game of seven-foot All-American Kyle Filipowski.

McLeod ended up getting a quick hook, but Taylor was helped out by Filipowski getting a couple first half fouls. Filipowski would have his way with the matchup in the second half, getting a dunk, lay-up, and assist in the first two-and-a-half minutes.

Bell and Taylor need to be more productive on the perimeter. The team had a streak of four straight games shooting at least 36.4 percent from 3, but have gone just 7-for-33 combined (21.2 percent) in the last two outings.

The 3-point defense needs work, also. In the last three games, SU has allowed their opponents to shoot 41.0 percent from 3-point range.

The Orange have the first of their two open slots in their conference schedule, as they have no game this coming weekend. Their next game is next Wednesday, January 10, when Boston College visits the JMA Dome. The Eagles (9-4, 0-2 ACC) had won four straight games before having that streak snapped Tuesday night by Wake Forest, 84-78, and will travel to Georgia Tech before continuing their road trip at Syracuse.

Forward Quentin Post is the top threat for BC, leading the team with 18.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game. Two other Eagles average double digits in scoring, as Claudell Harris Jr. averages 14.7 points and 2.5 3’s per game and Jaeden Zackery posts 12.7 points and a team-bests 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals per contest.

SU and Boston College will tip off next Wednesday at 9:00pm Eastern and the game will be televised by the ACC Network.

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