No. 3 Duke routs Syracuse ahead of Michigan matchup
Freshman Cameron Boozer scored 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting as No. 3 Duke manhandled Syracuse in a 101-64 victory on Monday in Durham, N.C.
Isaiah Evans hit three 3-point shots on the way to 21 points and Patrick Ngonbga II posted 12 points for the Blue Devils (24-2, 13-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). Boozer finished with 12 rebounds for his 14th double-double.
Duke, which has won three in a row since a last-second loss at North Carolina, shot 62.3% from the field. The Blue Devils made 13 of their first 14 shots in the second half as the margin topped 30 points.
William Kyle III's 12 points and Nate Kingz's 10 were tops for Syracuse (15-12, 6-8), which is in desperate need of a signature victory. The Orange had won two in a row for the first time since in a month but couldn't follow up their thrilling comeback against visiting SMU on Saturday.
The Orange appeared in danger finishing below their season-low point total (59) until hitting a couple of scoring stretches in the last 12 minutes.
Duke made three of its eight attempts from 3-point range before halftime, but the Blue Devils were mostly content to push the ball into the lane.
Boozer had a first-half double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Evans had 11 points, with the Blue Devils ending the half on an 11-0 run for a 40-24 lead. Duke shot 51.7 in the opening 20 minutes.
An 8-2 run to begin the second half put Duke firmly in control. Syracuse forward Donnie Freeman picked up his fourth foul with more than 14 minutes to play with the Orange trailing 58-37, and two minutes later his backup, Ibrahim Souare, had four fouls.
Duke opened a 16-9 lead while the Orange went more than four minutes without a point. An Evans 3-pointer and a Dame Sarr breakaway dunk stretched the margin to 23-12.
With NBA rookies Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel, both Duke players last season, looking on, the Blue Devils played their final game before a neutral-site showdown with top-ranked Michigan on Saturday night in Washington.