Washington, March 10 (BUS): Seventh-placed Duke kicked off coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final Atlantic Coast Conference tournament with a stronger-than-expected 88-79 victory Thursday over ninth-seeded Syracuse, who was playing without suspended superstar Buddy Boheim.
Wendell Moore Jr. scored 26 points and Jeremy Roach 17 in the second half as top seed Duke (27-5) stuck out to advance to Friday’s semifinals at Barclays Center against the winner from Miami College of Boston.
After losing a heavy regular-season finish to North Carolina in Cameron’s firing from coach K, Duke looked like a team still trying to find shape in March.
The Blue Devils couldn’t shake Orange until they closed the match 10-0, according to the Associated Press.
All-American Paulo Banchero hit a hard shot into the lane just before 2:13 to give Duke a 82-79 lead. Roach hit 3 open after about a minute, and separate Mark Williams had an eight-second lead with 48 seconds left.
The loss left Syracuse City (16-17) with a losing record. With the NCAA and NIT Championships largely ruled out, the Orange are looking at their first under-0.500 in 46 seasons under coach Jim Boeheim.
Playing without ACC top scorer Paddy Boheim, Syracuse got a boost from older brother Jimmy Boheim, who scored a season-high 28 points and was 6-for-9 of 3.
Buddy Boheim was suspended from the game by the conference for a “blatant act” after he punched a Florida State player in the stomach during Orange’s second-round win on Wednesday.
Buddy Boheim stood under the basket in a blue warming suit as his teammates shot the ball before the game, sometimes grabbing a rebound. When he got off the bench, he finally took a place, just before walking, but was often the first to greet his teammates coming from the ground.
The Orange lost two games to Duke during the regular season with Buddy Boehm with a total of 45 points. Syracuse doesn’t seem to have much of a chance without him.
Duke hit the Syracuse area 2-3 early on, taking 13 three-pointers on his first 18 shots and making six to take a 11-point lead.
The Blue Devils missed their next nine 3-point attempts, and Syracuse went out of its traditional zone, running behind Joe Gerrard who gave the Orange a 40-36 lead in the first half in front of the Orange partisan crowd at Barclays Center.
Gerrard, who averaged 13.5 per game, did his best in his “Buddy Buckets” impersonation, scoring 18 in the first half, including a 3rd corner kick at the bell. The young guard ran off the ground waving to the Syracuse fans to make a noise.
Syracuse boosted the lead to seven early in the second half, but Duke kicked off the ball and a fourth foul on Cole Sueder with the 15:00 left put the orange in a precarious place.
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