ACC Breakdown 1/15/19: Syracuse Edition

SO HOW ABOUT THOSE SYRACUSE ORANGE?!?!?!?!?! They went into Cameron Indoor, ands beat the Duke Blue Devils 95-91. Full disclosure: I am a Syracuse student and fan, so I am a little biased, and I attempt to not let that bias come through when I write anything on my blog. But today isn't one of those days. I've thought about nothing but this game since it ended, and I am going to just go on a sort of weird rant in this post. The actual ACC Breakdown will be out later today. First off, how good was Pascal Chukwu? This was by far his best game, as he finished with 10 points and 18 rebounds, 9 of which came on the offensive end, and also recorded 3 blocks. He played basically all of the second half and was impressive down the stretch, including making 2 big free throws. In the first half, it wads all Elijah Hughes. 18 of his 20 points came before the half, including an absurd 75 foot shot to beat the halftime buzzer. He's been great shooting the ball recently, and it seemed he helped the rest of the team get going from deep, as Cuse made 11 threes in this one, and when Buddy Boeheim is banking in threes, you know you're hot. When Hughes disappeared in the second half, Frank Howard stepped up. He's struggled after retuning from his preseason injury, but he was at his best in this game, finished with 16 points, all in the second half or overtime, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. It's the best he's played all year, and if he can continue to play like this, the team is going to be even better. But let's get to the main event. My god Tyus Battle is good. He had 32 points for the Orange, and he made some real tough shots. His mid range step back game is lethal, and he was showing it off throughout the game, including hitting a dirty one over Jack White. Speaking of Mr. White, he deserves some thanks, going 0-10 from the field, all of which were threes. I kept expecting him to make one of those open corner threes he kept getting, but he never did. RJ Barrett couldn't buy a three either, finishing 4-17 from behind the arc, and honestly, Duke going 9-43 from deep isn't getting talked about enough. Yes, Duke was without Tre Jones and Cam Reddish, and that makes a difference, but Syracuse had a gameplay, especially in the second half, that was pretty obvious: deny the middle, and make them shoot. Duke was happy to do just that, and they weren't making them, which is why Zion was quiet, at least relatively, after having a dominant first half. All I know is Syracuse just beat Duke, so it's a good day to bleed orange.