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Syracuse is clicking at the right time. The Orange have won back-to-back games for the first time in a month, and both were their best in conference play. SU defeated Cal, an NCAA Tournament bubble team, before taking down SMU, a projected No. 9 seed.

The Orange still have a ways to go if they’d like to break a four-year NCAA Tournament drought. SU’s next four games are Quad 1 opportunities, and it currently ranks 69th in the NET.

With momentum brewing, the Orange will now face one of their biggest tests yet. Syracuse travels to Durham, North Carolina, on Monday night to take on Duke. The Blue Devils are once again soaring toward a top March Madness seed and Atlantic Coast Conference title.

Here’s everything to know about No. 4 Duke (23-2, 12-1 ACC) before it faces Syracuse (15-11, 6-7 ACC) Monday at Cameron Indoor Stadium:

All time series

Syracuse trails 17-6.

Last time they played

Then-No. 2 Duke extended its winning streak to 16 on Feb. 5, 2025, by taking down Syracuse 83-54. The Blue Devils led by 14 at halftime and dominated the Orange from start to finish despite eventual No. 1 NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg scoring just 11 points.

Tyrese Proctor poured in four 3s and 16 points while five Duke players finished in double figures. J.J. Starling and Jyare Davis led the way for SU with 12 points each, but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep the Orange in the game. The Blue Devils followed up the win with their only ACC loss of the year, while Syracuse went on to beat Boston College in triple overtime a few days later.

KenPom Odds

Syracuse has a 4% chance of winning, with a projected score of 81-62.

The Blue Devils report

As one of the most well-known brands in sports, Duke hasn’t lost its step since transitioning from Mike Krzyzewski to Jon Scheyer. After a Final Four run a season ago, the Blue Devils were forced to replace NBA talent like Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach, Proctor and Sion James. Still, with Scheyer’s masterful recruiting, Duke continues pushing forward.

The Blue Devils are near perfect in Scheyer’s fourth season, falling just to Texas Tech and North Carolina by a combined four points. Duke defeated No. 20 Clemson by 13 points Saturday to improve to 12-1 in ACC play.

Leading the way for the Blue Devils is star freshman Cameron Boozer. The forward leads the ACC in points and rebounds per game, surging toward another top draft pick out of Durham. Boozer’s twin brother, Cayden, contributes off the bench as a guard, recently scoring 12 points against the Tigers.

The star guard for Duke is sophomore Isaiah Evans. The Fayetteville, North Carolina, native waited his turn for a bigger opportunity, and he’s averaging 14.4 points per game. Caleb Foster fills out the backcourt next to Evans, and Patrick Ngongba II is the Blue Devils’ center in his sophomore year. Former Syracuse forward Maliq Brown remains off the bench as a valuable defender.

The statistics don’t lie. Duke is the 10th-best offense based on KenPom’s adjusted efficiency at 125.2 and ranks 15th in effective field goal percentage (57.2%). Defensively, the Blue Devils are second in adjusted efficiency (89.2) and 12th in effective field goal percentage (46%).

Unlike Syracuse’s last two opponents, Duke really isn’t too much of a threat from deep. The Blue Devils are 13th in the ACC and 173rd in the country from 3 at 34.1%.

How Syracuse beats Duke

Pray. Seriously. The task at hand is daunting for Syracuse. The Orange will need to play near-perfect to knock off the Blue Devils, a squad that has lost just two of their last 33 regular-season conference games. If Syracuse can outshoot Duke from 3, it could be in the game at the half. Then down the stretch, anything can happen.

The Blue Devils could be overlooking the Orange as a matchup with Michigan brews a few days later. Still, Duke is Duke. The Orange will have to return to their defensive prowess against Houston to stay within reach. If not, things could get ugly.

Stat to know: 10

Syracuse has lost 10 straight games to the Blue Devils, last defeating them on Jan. 14, 2019, in overtime. SU’s losing streak has consisted of an average scoring margin of minus-17, and it has lost the three contests by at least 20 points.

The Orange have won only two games ever at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Syracuse men’s lacrosse recently broke an eight-game losing streak to Maryland. Maybe SU’s men’s basketball squad can take some notes from the recent upset and brew a monumental one of their own.

Player to watch: Cameron Boozer, forward, No. 12

The latest in the Blue Devils’ historical line of star freshmen is Boozer, one of the sons of former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer. At 6-foot-9, 250 pounds, Boozer is projected to be a top pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Thus far in his freshman campaign, he’s averaging 22.8 points per game and 9.9 rebounds. Both metrics lead the ACC, and his 13.65 Bayesian Performance Rating is the best in the country per EvanMiya CBB Analytics. Boozer has scored 14 or more points in every game this season. He’s also a threat from beyond the arc at 38.8%, and will be an issue all over the floor for the Orange to contain.

Published on February 15, 2026 at 10:23 pm
Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky