NEW YORK — No. 10 Duke will aim to stay in the race for the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title with a win when it travels to take on Syracuse at the Carrier Dome in New York on Wednesday night.
Live coverage of this game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. Live stream is available on WatchESPN and the ESPN App.
The Blue Devils (22-5, 10-4 ACC) have won seven consecutive games entering this matchup and will be hoping to extend that run and keep the pressure on the league’s frontrunners North Carolina and Louisville which face-off on Wednesday as well.
Duke is coming off a challenging 99-94 win over Wake Forest on Saturday, but head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who recently returned to the sideline from back surgery, believes those kinds of games build team character.
? Largest crowd of the 2016-17 college hoops season expected tonight ?#TheDukeEffect #HereComesDuke ?? pic.twitter.com/9uJhaHIN4s
— Duke Basketball (@DukeMBB) February 22, 2017
Syracuse (16-12, 8-7 ACC), in the meantime, has dropped three straight, which could affect their push for a NCAA tournament slot.
However, a win over the high-flying Blue Devils on Wednesday night would certainly put Jim Boeheim’s men back on track to advance to the dance next month.
The Orange, who are 1-4 against Top 25 ranked teams this season, had a late charge held off by Georgia Tech in a 71-65 defeat on Sunday.
Duke guard Luke Kennard is having an outstanding year and the sophomore leads the team in scoring with 20 points per game.
He is ranked second in scoring in the ACC and leads two other Duke players averaging at least 15.0 points per game.
Run it back. ACC Freshman of the Week for the second week in a row.#HereComesDuke pic.twitter.com/1S88u2Gxtv
— Duke Basketball (@DukeMBB) February 20, 2017
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.
Senior Amile Jefferson is averaging 11.2 points and 8.8 rebounds for Duke.
Meanwhile, Swingman Tyler Lydon is averaging 13.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game for Syracuse, while Andrew White III is scoring 17.9 entering this battle.
Wednesday night’s clash will see two college basketball successful coaches who have connected for over 1,900 career wins and six NCAA titles, knocking heads.
