Syracuse hosts Duke on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and rides a three-game losing streak entering the contest. The Orange is 2-3 against the No. 10 Blue Devils (22-5, 10-4 Atlantic Coast) since joining the ACC. Wednesday’s matchup marks the first time Duke will visit SU (16-12, 8-7) on a weekday.

Here are three things Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said on Monday’s ACC coaches teleconference.

Duke is a tremendous offensive team

Duke ranks fourth in the ACC in both scoring and 3-point field-goal percentage. The Blue Devils’ adjusted offensive efficiency rating ranks seventh nationwide, according to Kenpom.com. On its current seven-game win streak, Duke is averaging 79.3 points per game.

Syracuse will be faced with a tough test on Wednesday against the big three of Grayson Allen, Jayson Tatum and Luke Kennard. While several players battled through injuries earlier in the year, the Blue Devils have recently found their stride.

“They’ve got three to four guys that are capable of scoring 25-30 points,” Boeheim said. “… It’s taken a while to get to this point but now that they’ve got everyone together healthy, they’re a tremendous offensive team.”

Taurean Thompson could average 15 points a game

Thompson has been arguably Syracuse’s most pleasant surprise this season. Few would have expected the freshman forward to emerge as a key offensive weapon. But with just three regular season games remaining, that’s what he’s been for the Orange.

Thompson averages 8.9 points and 17.4 minutes. He would play more, Boeheim said, except he’s often been stuck in foul trouble and struggles on defense. Thompson ranks second in the ACC in fouls committed per 40 minutes among players who’ve played 40 percent of minutes, per Kenpom. He’s also averaging 20.5 points per 40 minutes, the most of any SU player who’s played in more than three games this season.

“He’s a 15 point a game scorer if he could stay out of foul trouble and improve somewhat on the defensive end,” Boeheim said. “But he’s a very talented offensive player.”

SU can’t sustain a press longer than a few minutes late in games

Syracuse once again clawed nearly all the way back from a double-digit deficit on Sunday night against Georgia Tech. The Orange faced a double-digit deficit for the sixth straight game. And again, a late second-half press nearly saved SU. Boeheim said when his team gets in desperation mode, the press has helped.

But Syracuse couldn’t sustain a press for much longer than the short bursts it’s used it in. Being that Boeheim is only using a rotation of six or seven players and that it’s playing two, sometimes even three, games a week, he wants to use the press sparingly.

“We’d have no chance to press the whole game. We’re playing six guys right now. It’s hard to press for a couple minutes,” Boeheim said. “… But it’s very difficult to press even for a short period of time. But for a long period of time, we would not be able to sustain it, particularly when we play Sunday-Wednesday-Sunday, three games a week.”

Published on February 20, 2017 at 1:27 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds