DURHAM, N.C. — Syracuse (18-11, 9-7 Atlantic Coast) fell to No. 4 Duke (26-3, 13-3), 73-54, at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday night.

Here are three quick reactions from the Orange’s lopsided loss, which came four days after SU beat No. 9 Notre Dame on the road.

1. Justise’s league

Not to discredit Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones (and Kaleb Joseph, if we’re being fair) but Justise Winslow was by and large the best freshman on the floor on Saturday night.

The Duke forward finished with 23 points, shooting 10-for-16 from the field and 3-for-5 from 3, and added nine rebounds and three blocks to his line. Similar to his performance in the Carrier Dome two weeks ago, Winslow inflicted damage from the high post to break down the Syracuse zone and challenge its bigs at the rim.

But in the second half, Winslow stretched his game to the perimeter, where his 3-point shooting touch helped put SU away.

2. No entry 

Duke didn’t drop into a 2-3 zone — like it has at times this season — but the Blue Devils were very effective in eliminating Syracuse’s passing lanes to Christmas.

By sagging off Joseph and Tyler Roberson, Duke used an extra defender to front Christmas while Okafor or backup center Marshall Plumlee applied pressure from behind. The result was just two first-half field goal attempts for Christmas, who had five points at the break.

There was a little more space for Christmas to work with in the second half, but the senior forward never got comfortable in the paint. When Christmas fouled out with 9:42 left in the game, he had 11 points on six attempts.

3. Heavy lifting 

While Christmas scored in small spurts and Michael Gbinije got going late in the game, Roberson was the Orange’s most reliable offensive option throughout the game. That didn’t necessarily bode well for the visitors, but Roberson continued to show growth in a season that has asked him to continually raise his play.

Roberson finished with 16 points and nine rebounds — a strong outing from him that wasn’t enough to fully carry the load.

Published on February 28, 2015 at 9:09 pm