On Monday night, the unranked Syracuse Orange had the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils seeing red.
Playing against Syracuse’s patented zone defense without starters Tre Jones and Cameron Reddish, the Blue Devils to attempted a school-record 43 3-pointers and made only nine.
Duke star Zion Williamson was still able to get his and ended up with 35 points, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the game from heading to overtime.
In the extra period, Syracuse held Duke to 2-of-8 shooting and was able to capture the school’s second victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium in North Carolina since 2016.
“When you get two guys hurt and injured, there is no game plan anymore,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. “Our game plan was to pick them up full-court, put pressure on the ball, and that was working pretty well. Then, you’re trying to survive, really.”
The loss was the first time Duke has fallen to a team other than UNC while playing at home as the No.1-ranked team in the nation.
For Syracuse, Tyus Battle led the team with 32 points, four assists, and four rebounds while Elijah Hughes added 20 points and Frank Howard put up 16
Three of Hughes’ 20 came on an insane buzzer-beater he hit before halftime.
Syracuse's Elijah Hughes nailed this buzzer-beater from the goddamn moon: https://t.co/8XqkI7fvN1 pic.twitter.com/YxIhMohHJH
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) January 15, 2019
“When that shot went in, it just showed what kind of night it was for them,” Williamson said. “It seemed like everything they threw up was just bottom of the net. They just hit a lot of shots.”
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