With No. 20 Duke's (14-5, 3-3) 64-62 loss to Syracuse (13-7, 3-4) at home the Blue Devils have officially gone on a skid. There was preseason talk about the Blue Devils potentially repeating as champs, but that's looking less and less likely as the losses keep piling on. This one against the Orange was particularly bad as it was Duke's third straight loss.
This loss marks the first time since 2007 —- a year after J.J. Redick went to the NBA —- that Duke has lost three games in a row. Marshall Plumlee was phenomenal with 19 points and 17 boards, but without the help of Amile Jefferson the team gave up 26 offensive rebounds. That's just inexcusable for a team that wants to win at all. It shows no effort on the defensive end of the floor to actually finish the defensive possession.
Grayson Allen had 18 points while Brandon Ingram had 13 points and 11 rebounds. In a bizarre twist of basketball fate, there were four Orange players who all had 14 points including Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije.
