No. 7 Duke rallies late to beat Syracuse 88-79 in ACC

After the Hall of Fame coaches met on Thursday, Mike Krzyzewski & Jim Boeheim exchanged hands.

No. 7 Duke rallies late to beat Syracuse 88-79 in ACC

The friends didn't need to say a special farewell. They know that they will keep in touch with each other and meet again.

After this 42nd season at Duke, Coach K will be retiring. Boeheim said he will be returning for a 47th year at Syracuse

After the Blue Devils defeated the Orange in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals, Boeheim stated that he didn't like playing against him but that they would have dinner together.

With Buddy Boeheim suspended, Syracuse led by one point at the end of the second period. Top-seeded Duke won with a 10-0 run.

Krzyzewski stated, "We got what we wanted."

Wendell Moore Jr. scored 26 and Jeremy Roach 16 in the second period for the Blue Devils (27.5-5), who advanced Friday to the semifinals at Barclays Center against fourth seeded Miami.

Duke was still searching for its March form after a disappointing loss against North Carolina at Coach K's Cameron sendoff.

Mark Williams, Duke forward, said that he could not bear to think of another unexpected loss ruining Krzyzewski’s farewell tour.

Williams scored 15 points. Williams said, "We had to learn from this game, but at same time, we had to move forward." "Don't play mind games with your self: What if this happens?" What if this happens?

After Jimmy Boeheim's tip in, Syracuse won 79-78.

With 2:13 remaining, Paolo Banchero, a freshman, made a difficult shot in the lane to make Duke up 82-79. Moore found Roach for an opening 3 just a minute later, and Williams' breakaway dive made it the lead eight with 48 seconds left.

Krzyzewski stated that "Wendell really led" us down the stretch. "Jeremy played a phenomenal game."

Syracuse (16-17) is now without a winning record. The Orange will be looking for their first sub-.500 season with Jim Boeheim, 77, as they are unlikely to win the NCAA Tournament.

Jim Boeheim stated, "I felt we played with a tremendous goal today."

Syracuse was without ACC leader scorer Buddy Boeheim. Big brother Jimmy Boeheim gave Syracuse a lift. He scored a season high 28 points and was 6-9 from 3.

Jimmy, who was sitting beside Buddy at a postgame press conference with their father, said that "I was playing today for this kid." "I wanted him to win one more game.

The conference suspended Buddy Boeheim from the game for a "flagrant" act. He punched Wyatt Wilkes, Florida State, in the stomach during Wednesday's Orange's second round victory.

Buddy Boeheim stated, "Sitting down on that bench, I couldn't feel prouder watching my big brother doing his thing,"

Buddy Boeheim sat under the basket wearing a blue warmup suit, while his teammates shot around pregame and occasionally grabbed a rebound. He was relegated to the bench near the end of the game, right before the walk-ons, but he was always the first to greet his teammates as they came off the floor.

Two games were lost by the Orange to Duke in the regular season without Buddy Boeheim, a total of 45 points. Syracuse seemed to be without Buddy Boeheim.

Joe Girard, who averaged 13.5 points per game, tried his best Buddy Buckets impression in the first half. He scored 18 points, including a corner 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Orange led 40-36.

Syracuse led seven to one early in the second period, but Duke began getting the ball inside. With 15:00 left, a fourth foul on Cole Swider made it difficult for Duke to complete the upset.

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Syracuse: Buddy Boeheim, who struck Wilkes several times again, apologized and tried to keep his tears away as he talked about how his college career ended.

Buddy Boeheim stated, "Been thinking about this play the past 24 hours." "I don’t believe I’ve ever thrown a punch in any of my lives. He was not hurt intentionally.

Jim Boeheim criticised the decision to suspend his son. He said that if the officials handled the incident properly Wednesday's game, Buddy Boeheim would have been expelled and allowed to play against Duke.

Buddy Boeheim lost the Duke game because of this.

Jim Boeheim stated, "That doesn't make any sense to me."

Krzyzewski did not criticize the ACC's decision but said: "I wish that what happened (Wednesday), was adjudicated during this game."

Duke: Syracuse has lost seven consecutive meetings to the Blue Devils.

Boeheim was the 75-year-old Krzyzewski's best friend in coaching. He spent more than a decade with USA Basketball.

Krzyzewski stated that Boeheim was a former player. His team did him proud.

In matchups between Krzyzewski & Boeheim, Duke is 13-5

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Duke was defeated at home by Miami in January


 

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