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Box score breakdown: Syracuse 78, Duke 75

The old adage about the NBA is you can catch all the action the final two minutes. It’s not necessarily true.

If you caught the last possession of Duke-Syracuse, there was a wealth of drama and excitement rolled into one incredible shot. But that was not the whole story. John Gillon’s buzzer-beating running three pointer at the top of the key gave Syracuse a 78-75 victory at the Carrier Dome. That snapped Duke’s (22-6) seven game conference win streak and kept Syracuse’s (17-12) NCAA hopes alive another day.

In a 65 possession game, both teams showed excellent offensive efficiency, Syracuse at 124 while Duke rang up a 119. Duke enjoyed a huge 40-17 edge in offensive rebounding percentage. That margin was offset by the marksmanship of Syracuse. Jim Boeheim’s club actually shot better from three than two-point range.

Syracuse
2 pt shooting 6 of 11 (55 percent)
3 pt shooting 19 of 36 (53 percent)

Duke
2 pt shooting 10 of 33 (30 percent)
3 pt shooting 15 of 31 (48 percent)

Kenpom game MVP: John Gillon, Syracuse – 26 points, EF 35. Zero turnovers and an EF per minute of .875. That translates on the EF (Litton scale) as a “very good” performance.

On this night, Syracuse fans could add a few adjectives to that categorization

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