Coming off three straight close losses, Syracuse (16-12, 8-7) hosts Duke (22-5, 10-4) on Wednesday with hopes of reaching the postseason dwindling. History will be made as well, as it will be the first time two coaches with 1,000 wins face each other with Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim prowling the sidelines.
'Cuse could use a big win over a ranked opponent, like Duke, who enters the game ranked tenth in the country.
If the Orange are trending downward, the Blue Devils are definitely heading in the other direction. Winner of seven straight, Duke now sits just one game back of North Carolina for the lead in the ACC.
SU vs. Duke @ 7. Countdown to Tipoff starts at 6:30 on 88.3 FM.
The focal point for Syracuse when it comes to stopping Duke will inevitably be in slowing down the Blue Devils offense. They score the fourth most points per game in the ACC and shoot at the second-best rate, tied with Virginia Tech. Syracuse's zone might be well suited to do so, as Duke is a team that tends to run isolation plays, rather than work through ball movement, which the Orange struggle with. The Blue Devils rank 12th in assists per game in the ACC.
It is no doubt that 'Cuse needs to step up offensively as well for this game. Graduate transfer Andrew White can certainly provide the offensive firepower needed to hang with Duke, but he will need to do so at a more efficient rate. He is averaging 18 points per game, but 42 percent shooting for the season. He is turning himself into a volume scorer, especially in his last two games. Against Louisville, he scored 22 points on 24 shots and then the Georgia Tech game saw White score 17 points on 16 attempts. His shooting percentage in those two matchups was a paltry 32.5 percent, including a pathetic 23 percent from three.
White will definitely need to keep pace with Duke's electric shooting guard if Syracuse is to stand a chance. Sophomore Luke Kennard is second in the ACC in scoring at 20 points per game. What makes it more impressive is his lethal shooting percentage. On the season, Kennard is 52 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from behind the line.
Kennard is far from Duke's only weapon though, with sophomore Grayson Allen and freshman Jayson Tatum both averaging more than 15 points per game.
'Cuse has to hope that inconsistent freshmen Taurean Thompson and Tyus Battle are on against the Blue Devils. Thompson has gotten hot recently, scoring in double digits in three of his last four games. Battle on the other hand has struggled of late. His 11 points against Georgia Tech were the most he had since dropping 23 on Virginia at the beginning of this month. These two finding any form of offensive consistency would be a major difference maker for this Syracuse team as they enter the homestretch of the schedule.
The overall sentiment is that Syracuse must win two of it's last three games and add a win in the ACC tournament to make it to the NCAA tournament. So while Wednesday's game with Duke is not a must win, it would make Saturday's game against Louisville crucial to tournament hopes.