Griffin Hits 5 3s, No. 6 Duke Beats Syracuse 79-59

DURHAM, N.C.: AJ Griffin hit five 3-pointers the most by a Duke player this season and the sixth-ranked Blue Devils routed visiting Syracuse 79-59 Saturday.

Griffin was one of four players for Duke (15-3, 5-2 Atlatic Coast Conference) with 15 points, joining Paolo Banchero, Wendell Moore Jr. and Mark Williams. Banchero had 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.

Jesse Edwards led Syracuse (9-10, 3-5) with 12 points and nine rebounds. Jimmy Boeheim also had 12 points.

Griffin swished 3-pointers on his first two shots to spark Duke’s 11-2 run out of the gate. Syracuse surged back with a 13-5 stretch but never took the lead from Duke.

A 24-11 run from the Blue Devils to start the second half extended their lead to 27. Moore tallied 10 points during that span. Duke grew its lead to 31 points during the second half.

Joey Baker had 11 points and Jeremy Roach dished out a career-high nine assists for Duke.

Saturday marked the 16th meeting between Duke coach Mike Krzyweski and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who are 1-2 atop the career wins list among Division I men’s basketball coaches. Krzyzewski leads the head-to-head series 11-5.

BIG PICTURE

Duke: The Blue Devils bounced back from their loss to Florida State in an emphatic way, beating Syracuse in nearly every facet of the game. The Blue Devils were efficient in sharing the ball, too, totaling 25 assists to just 12 turnovers.

Syracuse: The Orange have lost five of their last seven games and their hopes of earning Boeheim another NCAA tournament berth are dwindling. Syracuse made just five 3-pointers, tied for its lowest of the season.

UP NEXT

Duke: Remaining at home, the Blue Devils host Clemson on Tuesday.

Syracuse: The Orange stay on the road, playing at Pitt on Tuesday.

___

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/College-basketball and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Read all the Latest News here