The new look Syracuse Orange entered Cameron Indoor with swagger and confidence boasting a 5-game winning streak as well as notching the first ACC victory for their new head coach Adrian Autry against Pitt. The Blue Devils were on a streak of their own, winning 4 games in a row after dropping 2 straight and needing their first ACC win.
The first half, though sloppily played was competitive with Syracuse doing what they do well, getting to the free throw line and hitting tough shots in the lane. Duke did a fairly good job of shutting down the Orange potent guard tandem holding Judah Mintz and JJ Starling to a combined 4-12 in the first half and holding Syracuse to just 2-8 from 3.