The bank was open for the Syracuse Orange late at the Carrier Dome on Wednesday night. A buzzer-beater from John Gillon boosted the Orange past the Blue Devils 78-75. Students and fans immediately stormed the court, as there was no doubt the shot left Gillon’s hands before the horn sounded. They will garner lots of attention by taking down a top 10 team, but Syracuse needs to win their last two games of the season, against Louisville and Georgia Tech, if they want to secure an NCAA Tournament bid. They combined for 11 of Duke’s 16 assists.
Gillon led all scorers with 26 points.
He didn’t score in the second half until 11: 24.
We have some ACC-tion on the college basketball slate on Wednesday night, as the #10 Duke Blue Devils take on the Syracuse Orange. Allen’s 11 points were below his 15.4 average, but his two 3-pointers in the second half came at key moments.
The second half was a Gillon story. It looked like it would be more of the same as Duke raced to an eight-point lead at half-time.
Syracuse and Duke, two legendary programs, squared off for just the 10th time.
Gillon is having an up-and-down season for Syracuse, but when the Orange win, he’s is usually a big reason why. Allen’s put Tyus Battle at the line for game-tying free throws.
The Blue Devils built a 33-25 lead at halftime despite shooting only.375 percent (12 for 32) from the floor – well below their ACC-leading.487 percentage.
“They had a couple players in foul trouble”, White said.
No. 22 Butler 74, at No. 2 Villanova 66: Kelan Martin scored 22 points and fueled a stunning second-half rally to lead the Bulldogs to a win over the Wildcats, who had their on-campus home winning streak end at 48 games.
“We haven’t thought about the tournament, ” Boeheim said.
Mike Krzyzewski and the No. 10 Blue Devils (22-5, 10-4 ACC) are coming off of a close win over a Wake Forest team that could not break its long losing streak against its in-state ACC foe.
Syracuse travels to No. 7 Louisville on Sunday.
Freshman star Jayson Tatum is putting up 16.4 points and 7.1 rebounds and junior guard Grayson Allen is scoring 15.2 per battle on the term for the Blue Devils.