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DURHAM, N.C. — Even if only a glimmer of hope, wins over California and SMU provided Syracuse a much-needed spark after it dropped six of its previous seven games. While EvanMiya still labels SU as “Not Close” to the NCAA Tournament field, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi wrote Monday morning that a win over Duke would put the Orange on the “watch list.”

Syracuse entered Monday ranked No. 69 and 62 by KenPom and EvanMiya, respectively, while the Blue Devils — who haven’t lost in Cameron Indoor Stadium since the 2023-24 season — were ranked No. 2 by both websites. Before the programs met in Durham, Duke was 10-2 (its only two losses) in Quad 1 games while SU was 1-6.

While the Orange stayed in the game throughout the first half, trailing by five three minutes before halftime, they suffered their seventh Quad 1 loss in blowout fashion. Likely top-three NBA Draft pick Cameron Boozer led the Blue Devils with a 22-point, 12-rebound double-double and Isaiah Evans poured in another 21 points.

On the other hand, Syracuse drastically struggled offensively throughout much of the night. Meanwhile, it was bullied from the interior, including from former SU forward Maliq Brown, who had six points, three rebounds, five assists and two steals.

It resulted in the worst losing margin of the Adrian Autry era.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (15-12, 6-8 ACC) 101-64 blowout loss to Duke (24-2, 13-1 ACC):

(Cameron) Crazy slow start

While Syracuse hung with Duke early, four of its first nine points came after back-to-back William Kyle III blocks, leading to a Nate Kingz dunk and a Donnie Freeman jumper. Kingz’s dunk gave the Orange a 9-7 lead at the 14:34 mark.

However, failing to turn defense into offense, Syracuse scored just three points over the next seven minutes while shooting 1-of-10 from the field — the lone make was a Naithan George pull-up 3. By the time Kyle scored SU’s next points after registering a steal, the Blue Devils led 23-14 with 6:58 remaining in the first half.

Duke built its lead up to 28-17 at the 6:03 mark after Boozer drained a 3-pointer, but the Orange sliced their deficit down to five three minutes later behind buckets from George, Kingz and Kyle. Despite the spurt, Syracuse conceded a “kill shot” to close the first half — exactly what it couldn’t afford.

Boozer percolated for another four points and dished an assist to his twin brother Cayden for another three points. The exclamation point came after Cayden stripped Freeman, pushed the pace and fed Evans for an alley-oop in transition for the Blue Devils’ 11th-straight point. It gave Duke a 40-24 lead heading into the locker room at halftime — SU’s 24 points were its fewest in a half this season.

Rebound disparity

After Patrick Ngongba pulled down an offensive rebound that led to a Dame Sarr second-chance layup, Autry screamed at Freeman in frustration as he ran down the court. Following a Syracuse miss, Kingz failed to box out Caleb Foster, which led to a long rebound in the corner that set up a 2 for Ngongba.

The Blue Devils outrebounded SU 12-6 in the first eight minutes alone, including a 5-1 disparity on the offensive glass. While Duke started the game 5-of-14 from the field, it held an 11-9 lead thanks to 10 second-chance points.

That early spurt on the glass helped the Blue Devils retain a nearly 10-rebound advantage throughout most of the contest. As they broke the score open to close the first half, Cameron pulled down his 10th rebound (and fourth offensive) after Evans missed in transition. He then dropped in an easy layup as part of his 22-point, 12-rebound double-double.

The first play of the second half pretty much summed up the game. Ngongba missed a layup while getting guarded one-on-one by Kyle, corralled the rebound and scored an easy two points.

It set the tone for another dominant rebounding half for Duke, which won the rebounding battle 39-29. The Blue Devils also had a 22-14 disparity in second-chance points.

3-point barrage

At this point in the season, it’s clear Syracuse’s strong suit isn’t its 3-point shooting. Entering Monday, the Orange’s 33.3% 3-point percentage ranked 218th in the country.

Nonetheless, SU made it a point of emphasis to jack up a plethora of 3s. While the Orange outscored the Blue Devils 4-3 from beyond the arc in the first half — led by Kingz shooting 2-of-4 — they shot just 4-of-16 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Duke was a much more efficient 3-of-8 while its point of emphasis was attacking the glass and paint.

After shooting just eight 3s in the first half, the Blue Devils naturally shot two in the first 90 seconds of the second half. And Evans and Caleb Foster drew nylon, forcing Autry to call a timeout with the Orange conceding an 8-2 run out of the break.

As Syracuse’s deficit crept beyond 20 points, it took five minutes for it to hit a triple, a J.J. Starling shot at the end of the shot clock that cut the score to 56-37 at the 14:56 mark. The next 3-pointers came from Nikolas Khamenia, including one off an offensive rebound from Brown, helping Duke take a 68-40 lead with 11:59 remaining.

If not for Kiyan Anthony stepping up with two made 3s, Syracuse’s nearly 30-point deficit throughout most of the second half would’ve been closer to 40.

Regardless, SU was still blown out, and even while attempting seven more triples than the Blue Devils, it didn’t matter. Duke finished 12-of-20 from beyond the arc, while Syracuse was 10-of-27. En route to 21 points, Evans led with three 3s, with Khamenia also drilling another three.

William Kyle III shows up, but not really anyone else

Per usual, Kyle was flying around the court both offensively and defensively. He finished with 12 points, two blocks and two steals. The center’s effort tonight is exactly what Autry’s renowned “level five” looks like.

But the same couldn’t be said for many of his teammates. Freeman, SU’s leading scorer, was forced to play just 21 minutes while dealing with foul trouble. But even when the star forward was on the court, he struggled to nine points, shooting 4-of-8 from the floor.

Starling, Syracuse’s senior captain, managed a dreadful 3-of-13 performance from the floor while scoring nine points. Even while George helped the Orange stay afloat early, he shockingly finished with just four field goal attempts while scoring eight points.

Even with Kingz arguably being its best player in ACC play, Syracuse only found him nine shots, which resulted in 10 points. With the starters struggling, SU’s main reserves didn’t add much of a spark, either. Tyler Betsey, Sadiq White Jr. and Anthony combined for 14 points.

By conceding 101 points, the most SU has given up in a regulation game, it’s also pretty clear that Autry’s squad was outclassed while attempting to play defense.

Published on February 16, 2026 at 9:06 pm
Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon