Duke wins second straight in blowout win over Syracuse

SYRACUSE, NY — Blue Devils junior guard Jeremy Roach scored 17 points and dished off three assists leading Duke to a 77-55 win over Syracuse on Saturday evening.

Duke (19-8, 10-6 ACC) is coming off a close win over Notre Dame on Tuesday which took last-second heroics by Mark Mitchell to get the job done. The Blue Devils have split their last eight games with opponents, going just 4-4 in that span.

This game started tight as Syracuse (16-11, 9-7 ACC) managed to knot up with the Blue Devils 19-19 midway through the first half. Syracuse guard Judah Mintz led the Orange with 10 points in the first half, finishing with a total of 18 on 7-of-16 shooting. Joseph Girard III also pitched in for the Orange with a game-high 21 points on 4-for-7 shooting from downtown.

Duke would turn it up soon after to end the half, going on a 21-2 run for the final eight minutes of the first half. Syracuse began to run a 2-3 zone which in turn resulted in the Blue Devils exploiting them from beyond the arc — draining eight threes in the first half.

Dariq Whitehead caught fire from deep, finishing the contest with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range. Over his last five games, Whitehead is averaging 10.6 points per game and is shooting 68 percent from downtown in that span. The New Jersey native has been on a tear from beyond the arc since returning to action from a lower leg injury.

In the second half, the Blue Devils turned up their intensity and effort even more, forcing the Orange to shoot below 30 percent from the field. Kyle Filipowski draining two deep threes to give Duke a sizable lead pretty much ended this one early. The Blue Devils would lead by as much as 24, giving them their second-largest ACC win of the season.

Duke looks to win their third straight on Monday when they take on 4-23 Louisville at 7 PM ET on ESPN.