Syracuse (18-10, 7-8 Atlantic Coast) tips off against Duke (23-5, 11-4) on Saturday at 6:15 pm in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Orange lost on Wednesday to North Carolina and the Blue Devils are on a four-game win streak. Read the full Duke opponent preview.

For a full breakdown, The Daily Orange spoke with The Raleigh News & Observer’s Jonathan M. Alexander, who covers the Blue Devils.

The Daily Orange: Freshman sensation Marvin Bagley III has missed four consecutive games, but it hasn’t seemed to matter much as the Blue Devils have won each contest. Still, what is Bagley’s status and how will his presence or absence affect the team on the court?

Jonathan M. Alexander: Marvin Bagley III will play on Saturday. As you have stated, he has missed the past four games and Duke has played some of its best games in his absence. They have given up less than 60 points in three consecutive games against Virginia Tech, Clemson and Louisville. But Duke is easily a better offensive team with Bagley on the court.

Senior guard Grayson Allen, who has averaged 23.8 points per game, in the past four games, has been more aggressive in looking for his shot. He will have to continue to be aggressive with Bagley back. As Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said recently, integrating Bagley, the ACC’s leading scorer (21.2 ppg) and rebounder (11.4 rpg), is a good problem to have.

The D.O.: Duke forward Wendell Carter was recently named in a Yahoo Sports report for accepting impermissible benefits from an agent. How do you expect Duke will handle Carter’s situation, and how do you expect it to impact the team on and off the court?

J.A.: We don’t know much about this issue yet. It’s still unclear. The only thing that came out was an expense report showing that Carter’s Mom had lunch with agent Christian Dawkins, who was arrested in September for his role in the college basketball corruption case. It is not illegal to have lunch with an agent. As far as this issue goes, Duke will be fine as long as Carter’s mother paid for her portion of the lunch. And if Dawkins paid for her, under the NCAA’s rule, Carter could retain his eligibility by paying it back to a charity of his choice. Duke has looked into his eligibility and has determined that Carter is still eligible to play.

The D.O.: Who might surprise Syracuse fans and have a big impact in the game?

J.A.: Gary Trent Jr. has improved tremendously in recent games. He’s been a knockdown shooter for Duke. In the past 10 games or so, he has shot over 50 percent from behind the 3-point line. He is averaging about 15 points per game and can get hot in a hurry.

The D.O.: What didn’t we ask that Syracuse fans should be thinking about for the game?

J.A.: As I mentioned, Duke’s defense is much improved. The last three teams Duke had played hasn’t been able to score much on Duke’s zone. So will Syracuse be able to score is the question. Duke also hasn’t played against a zone defense this year, so that will also be interesting.

The D.O.: Which team do you think wins and why?

J.A.: Duke is playing its best basketball and will get Bagley back. Duke has too much offensive firepower. Both teams are an even 5-5 against each other. But each team is significantly better at home and Duke is at home this game. I think it will be a good game, but Duke will likely win.

Published on February 24, 2018 at 12:42 pm

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR