No. 6 Duke Welcomes Syracuse to Cameron Saturday

Saturday, January 22

Durham, N.C.

12 P.M.

Duke University

Syracuse

No. 6 Duke Welcomes Syracuse to Cameron Saturday

1/20/2022 10:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

WATCH LISTEN LIVE STATS DUKE GAME NOTES SYRACUSE GAME NOTES GAME PROGRAM GAME DAY INFORMATION DUKECHECKIN.COM

THE OPENING TIP

ACC rivals No. 6 Duke and Syracuse square off for a Saturday matinee at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The game tips at 12 p.m. ET on ESPN with Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas on the call. On the radio locally, David Shumate and John Roth call the action on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield.
Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim have combined for 2,175 wins -- the winningest coaches in D-I history.
Since Syracuse joined the ACC, Duke has won seven of the 11 regular-season meetings, with those 11 games decided by just 8.5 points. The Blue Devils lead the all-time series 11-6, including 4-2 at Cameron.
The ACC Freshman of the Week for the fourth time, Paolo Banchero has scored 20+ points in four straight games and five of the last six. His eight 20-point efforts lead all power conference true freshmen and his 18.1 points leads all true freshmen nationally.
Banchero is the ACC's sixth leading scorer at 18.1 and he is one of only two players in the league averaging 20+ in ACC games (20.8).
Sophomore Mark Williams is fifth nationally and leads the ACC in blocked shots (3.41). He posted a near triple-double last Saturday against NC State with 19 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high eight blocked shots in just 27 minutes of court time.
Williams has blocked 20 shots over Duke's last four games, joining Mike Gminski and Shelden Williams as the only other Blue Devils to accomplish that in program history.
Since the calendar turned to 2022, Duke opponents are shooting just .250 (24-of-96) from three-point range -- the second best percentage defense by power conference teams in that span.
Duke has held six straight opponents -- and 12 for the season -- to .300 or worse from behind the arc.
Duke is the only ACC team with three players in the league's top 10 in assist/turnover ratio with Trevor Keels ranked fourth (2.35), Jeremy Roach fifth (2.30) and Wendell Moore Jr. ninth (2.05).
Saturday is the 50th anniversary of Cameron Indoor Stadium being named for Eddie Cameron. The building opened Jan. 6, 1940 as Duke Indoor Stadium and was renamed on Jan. 22, 1972 in honor of Duke's long-time athletics director and coach.

DUKE VS. SYRACUSE
Saturday's game is just the 18th all-time meeting between Duke and Syracuse, with the Blue Devils leading 11-6 … Duke has won four straight in the series and has claimed seven of the 11 regular-season meetings since Syracuse joined the ACC -- those 11 games have been decided by an average of 8.5 points … The teams met just once last season, with the Blue Devils winning 85-71 at Cameron in February behind 21 points from DJ Steward … Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim served as an assistant on Mike Krzyzewski's Team USA staffs that won Olympic gold medals in 2008, 2012 and 2016 … The two coaches are first and second, respectively, in all-time D-I men's basketball wins -- Coach K with 1,184 and Boeheim with 991.

SCOUTING THE ORANGE
Syracuse is 9-9 overall, 3-4 in the ACC and has won two of three … The Orange are scoring 78.7 points per game with all five starters averaging better than 12.2 points … Syracuse's five starters play 83 percent of the team's minutes … Brothers Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim, the sons of head coach Jim, are the team's leading scorers at 19.2 and 14.2, respectively … Buddy is fourth in the ACC in scoring, third in free throw percentage (.896) and fourth in three-point percentage (.349) … Joseph Girard III leads the ACC in both three-point shooting (.455) and free throw percentage (.902).

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF CAMERON INDOOR RENAMING
When Duke's historic basketball arena opened on Jan. 6, 1940, it was called Duke Indoor Stadium for its first three decades … On Jan. 22, 1972, at halftime of a game between Duke and No. 3 North Carolina, the school announced that Duke Indoor Stadium would be renamed Cameron Indoor Stadium in honor of long-time athletics director and men's basketball coach Eddie Cameron, who then was wrapping up a 44-year career as a Blue Devil … That day -- 50 years ago -- led by head coach Bucky Waters, the Blue Devils knocked off the third-ranked Tar Heels when senior Robby West hit an 18-footer with five seconds left for a 76-74 victory … Waters in 1972: "Eddie Cameron was huge in my life. He brought me to Duke, twice. He was a man's man, a handshake guy. He deserved the honor."

CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM
Duke has posted an all-time record of 926-169 (.846) at Cameron Indoor, including 568-74 (.885) under Coach K … Duke is 261-63 (.806) in ACC regular-season games at Cameron Indoor in the Coach K era … Duke has won more games at its current home venue than any team in college basketball … Now in its 83rd season as the home of the Blue Devils, Duke has averaged 11.1 wins since the venue opened January 6, 1940 -- a 36-27 win over Princeton … The Blue Devils have 18 undefeated home seasons, including 11 under Coach K.

ON THIS DATE
Duke is 9-5 all-time when playing on Jan. 22 … The Blue Devils are 3-1 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on this date, including a 76-74 win over North Carolina in 1972 -- the same day Duke announced the arena's renaming to Cameron Indoor Stadium … Duke last played on this date in 1994 -- a 106-79 win over Florida State at Cameron Indoor.

NOTHING EASY BEHIND THE ARC
Since the calendar turned to 2022, Duke opponents are shooting just .250 (24-of-96) from three-point range -- the second best percentage defense by power conference teams in that span (22nd overall) … Both Virginia Tech and Wake Forest made their fewest number of threes and shot their lowest percentage of the season against the Blue Devils -- VT was 5-of-19 (.263), while Wake was 2-of-16 (.125) … For the season, Duke is 41st in the NCAA (second in the ACC) in three-point defense (.297) … In addition to Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, two other opponents -- Gardner-Webb (.125) and Lafayette (.259) -- also shot what still stands as their lowest three-point percentage this season.

SHARING THE ROCK
Duke enters the game with the nation's third best assist/turnover ratio of 1.73. The Blue Devils also rank top 15 nationally and lead the ACC in field goal shooting (.492) and assists (17.6) … Duke has had a positive assist/turnover ratio in 15 of 17 games -- its only games with a negative ratio came in wins over Kentucky (9 turnovers, 8 assists) and Virginia Tech (11, 10) … Ten of Duke's 13 assists at Wake Forest came in the second half … Duke's 23 assists against NC State marked its ACC high for the season and its most since 23 vs. South Carolina State … Duke's season-high 25 assists came vs. The Citadel. The Blue Devils also registered a season-low three turnovers in that game.

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