Duke Opens The Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament With Syracuse As Zion Williamson Returns

On Thursday night Duke who is a third seed will take on Syracuse who is a sixth seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in the quarterfinals but they will also welcome back Zion Williamson who has missed six games after suffering a knee sprain in the opening moments of Duke’s first regular season matchup with North Carolina while Syracuse’s Battle may or may not play because of a back injury. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said that Battle suffered a bad bruise after falling hard on his back during the final minutes of the Orange’s 67-55 loss to Clemson to end the regular season last Saturday. He left the locker room in visible discomfort. “according to https://www.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2019/03/jim-boeheim-on-whether-tyus-battle-can-play-against-duke-hes-probably-2-or-3-days-away.html

Duke comes into the game with a record of 26-5 while they were 14-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season while Syracuse comes into the game with a record of 20-12 while they were 10-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season.

Unlike Syracuse Duke hasn’t played a game in the tournament yet while Syracuse played Pittsburgh in the Second Round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament . During the regular season Duke and Syracuse split the meetings with Syracuse taking the first meeting in Durham and Duke taking the second meeting in New York. As for the first meeting,

Tyus Battle scored a season-high 32 points, and Syracuse used its 2/3 zone defense to rattle No. 1 Duke in overtime as the Orange pulled off the upset, 95-91 on Monday night. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211786585

Paschal Chukwu added 10 points and a career-high 18 rebounds while Elijah Hughes added 20 points, Frank Howard finished with 16 and Oshae Brissett had 14 for the Orange (12-5, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211786585

Syracuse held Duke to 2-of-8 shooting in overtime and to just 21 percent shooting from 3-point range while earning its second victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium in three years. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211786585

Battle's jumper about a minute into OT gave Syracuse the lead for good at 89-88. Duke followed that with four consecutive empty possessions -- three missed 3s and a turnover that Howard turned into an easy layup. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211786585

RJ Barrett's 3 pulled the Blue Devils to 93-91, but Chukwu countered with a dunk from Howard to make it a five-point game. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211786585

Zion Williamson had a career-high 35 points and 10 rebounds, and his free throw with 16.2 seconds left in regulation tied it at 85 for Duke (14-2, 3-1), but he missed a second go-ahead foul shot. Brissett grabbed the rebound for Syracuse, but Battle's 3-pointer before the buzzer bounced off the back iron.”according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211786585

Barrett finished with 23 points on 8-of-30 shooting, and added 16 rebounds and nine assists.”according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211786585

As for the second meeting of the regular season at the Carrier Dome,

Duke avenged their earlier loss to Syracuse.

Once the game started, it seemed like just another tilt featuring the two winningest coaches in NCAA Division I history, except for the massive record crowd that made the dome's walls shake every time the Orange scored. The top-ranked Blue Devils (24-3, 12-2) improved to 7-0 on the road in the Atlantic Coast Conference. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211792265

In the first game between the teams, the Orange (18-8, 9-4) pulled off the upset, 95-91 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, as Tyus Battle scored a season-high 32 points and Syracuse used its 2/3 zone defense to rattle Duke in overtime. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211792265

Swingman Cameron Reddish was out with an illness and point guard Tre Jones suffered a shoulder injury roughly 5 1/2 minutes in to put Duke down two starters in that one. It was a completely different team, just like it was on Saturday without injured freshman star Zion Williamson, who had a season-high 35 points in that first game. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211792265

Freshman forward RJ Barrett, who had a triple-double and double-double in Duke's previous two games, scored 30 points to lead Duke and Alex O'Connell had 20. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211792265

Tyus Battle led Syracuse with 16 points on 4-of-17 shooting, Elijah Hughes had 12, and Marek Dolezaj and Frank Howard had 10 apiece. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211792265

O'Connell's four-point play early in the second half gave Duke a two-point lead and neither team led by more than four over the ensuing five minutes. O'Connell's fifth 3-pointer of the game, a career high, and Barrett's layup gave the Blue Devils a 58-52 edge with 9:16 to go. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211792265

Two free throws by Hughes narrowed the lead to two, but Barrett drained a 3, O'Connell followed with a steal and dunk, and Barrett converted a lob from Jones to give the Blue Devils a 65-56 lead with 4:45 left and the Orange never got closer than five the rest of the game. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211792265

Syracuse led nearly the entire first half and went into the locker room with a 34-29 lead. Barrett kept the Blue Devils in the game with 17 points in the opening period. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=211792265

As for how Duke finished the regular season they’re coming off a loss to North Carolina.

Freshman Coby White scored 21 points and third-ranked North Carolina hung on late to beat fourth-ranked Duke 79-70 on Saturday to clinch a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211794802&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Senior Kenny Williams scored a season-high 18 points for the Tar Heels (26-5, 16-2), who led by 15 with about 6 1/2 minutes left but had to hold off a rally from their fiercest rival -- who played yet again without injured freshman star Zion Williamson. Duke lost starting big man Marques Bolden early in this one, too. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211794802&DB_OEM_ID=4200

The Tar Heels bumbled their way to the finish after building their big lead, letting the Blue Devils (26-5, 14-4) get as close as 75-70 on RJ Barrett's 3-pointer with 2:19 left. Ultimately UNC held on, earning its first regular-season sweep of the Blue Devils since 2009. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211794802&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Barrett scored 26 points to lead the Blue Devils, who shot just 23 percent after halftime. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211794802&DB_OEM_ID=4200

As for how Syracuse got to the quarterfinals they beat Pittsburgh in the second round. Led by a career-high 20 points from freshman Buddy Boeheim, the sixth-seeded Syracuse (20-12) men's basketball team advanced to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament with a 73-59 victory over Pittsburgh (14-19) Wednesday evening. “according to https://cuse.com/news/2019/3/13/mens-basketball-orange-advance-to-acc-quarterfinals.aspx
 
In the first 20-point game of his career, Boeheim shot 6-of-13 which included three 3-pointers. He nabbed a career-high six rebounds while leading the Orange with four assists. Elijah Hughes and Frank Howard joined the ACC-rookie in double-digits, both tallying 18 points. Hughes had a game-best 5-of-7 performance behind the arc in addition to his four rebounds and three assists. “according to https://cuse.com/news/2019/3/13/mens-basketball-orange-advance-to-acc-quarterfinals.aspx
 
Pitt was led by Jared Wilson-Frame who had 24 points, which included eight 3-pointers.”according to https://cuse.com/news/2019/3/13/mens-basketball-orange-advance-to-acc-quarterfinals.aspx

Tip-off is set for 9:00pm from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte that is home to the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA. The game will be televised on ESPN and Raycom Sports.