Gillon and the Orange Down the Devils in the Dome, 78-75

Story by Jon Cerio

Photos by Rob Schiff


SYRACUSE, N.Y. --   With eleven ticks on the clock and the game tied at 75-75, Tyler Lydon corralled the Luke Kennard miss. He gave it to Tyus Battle, who held onto the ball for a few precious seconds before passing off to John Gillon, 80 feet from the basket.

“I got the rebound, looked up at the clock and saw there were about five to six seconds left and passed it off to John” Battle said.  “I made sure I ran just in case he passed it to me, but he put it up and I had a feeling it was going in. I just lost it after that. It was amazing.”

Gillon went from the far foul line up to the top of the key.  With 1.6 ticks left on the clock, he let it fly. It banked home as the buzzer went off and Syracuse beat the Blue Devils, 78-75,

Orange fans stormed the court and stayed.

“The last play, we knew we were going to get the ball and we were just going to give it to John and go,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said.  “We hoped there would be a little more time, so he could go all the way, but once in a while you get lucky, and we’ll take it."

“Congratulation to Syracuse, they’ve been in so many close games, and they’ve hit big shots,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Gillon has hit big shots.”

Dancing with the Devils

The game was back and forth for much of the night.  SU's Taurean Thompson got the game’s first basket just over one minute in.  He scored six of the Orange’s first ten points, on his way to eleven for the game.

In what was be a recurring theme, seemingly whenever SU hit a big shot, Duke went to its clutch sophomore, Luke Kennard.  He answered Thompson’s basket with a jumper of his own.

In a little over five minutes, the Blue Devils doubled up the Orange at 12-6.  Syracuse responded with a 7-0 run, capped off with a three from Andrew White III.

Hell and Back

The crowd of 30,331, the largest to see an on-campus game this season, was on an ebb and flow of emotion throughout this one.  Every Orange make was followed with a huge reaction from the fans.  With every Blue Devil shot or call against the Orange, the crowd barked displeasure.  Anytime Duke's Grayson Allen so much as touched the basketball, he was booed nearly out of the building.

Allen had a less-than stellar outing.  Duke is 24-6 when the 6’5” junior leads his team in scoring.  On this night he went 2-11 from the field, and 1-8 from deep, for eight points.

“I thought we did a good job with Allen,” Boeheim said. “Kennard has had an unbelievable year and Tatum is a great player. I thought we did a better job in the second half with them.” 

Double Trouble

After Syracuse took the lead at 13-12 with 12:24 left in the half, Duke came right back with a Jayson Tatum three.  Tatum had a double-double at the half with 14 points and ten boards.  He finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

For the next 5:14, Duke and Syracuse went back and forth, keeping it close.  At the 7:10 mark, a Tatum layup pushed the lead to six at 23-17.  Two minutes later, Kennard hit one of his five threes, extending the lead to nine.

Devils’ Advocates

Syracuse scrambled to cut into the lead, but every shot the Orange made in the final five minutes of the half was met with a Duke response.

At 4:38, Gillon drilled a three-point shot to cut the lead to six.  19 seconds later, Tatum hit a jumper to push the margin back to eight. 

With 2:32 remaining, Syracuse's Tyler Roberson connected on a basket from Frank Howard, making it 28-22.  15 seconds later – Kennard buried a three, and the lead was back to nine. 

Gillon managed to sneak a basket in before the half, making it 33-25 at the break. Duke’s seven offensive rebounds helped get the edge on the scoreboard.

"In the first half we were too stagnant – on offense we just weren’t really getting any movement," Boeheim said.

Syracuse only managed 25 points in the first half.  In the second, the Orange put up 53.

Hot-Hand Luke

Lydon got the ball rolling with a triple at the 19:14 mark.  20 seconds later, Kennard picked up where he left off in the first half, draining one from deep. 

Back-to-back Gillon layups cut the lead to 37-35 with 17:14 to go.  14 seconds later, Kennard hit from downtown.  Kennard has now connected from beyond the three-point line in 31 consecutive games.

Holding the Line

Throughout the next 4:52, every big make for Syracuse was met with a swift response from the Blue Devils.  The lead bounced between two and four points over that stretch, until four straight Orange free throws, including a pair from Gillon.  His 5-5 performance from the line extended his made free throw streak to 43 consecutive makes.

“I think we’re getting pretty comfortable playing close games,” Gillon said.  “We just keep on battling, keep on fighting. We don't give up until we see zeros on the board.”

Trial By Fire

Duke responded with a Harry Giles slam and a Tatum three.  Over the next 8:50, there were five ties and eight lead changes. 

With 2:00 to go, Battle nailed the jumper, tying the game at 73-73.  Amile Jefferson responded inside and drew the foul.  He hit the pair, giving Duke a 75-73 with 1:34 remaining. 

After a Gillon missed a layup at 1:10,  Allen grabbed the board and had the chance to extend the lead from deep with 45 seconds to go.  He couldn’t connect and seven seconds later, Gillon hit a left-side jumper to tie things up at 75-75.

Duke looked to the hot hand in Kennard for a response, but he couldn’t hit the jumper. Gillon's final heroics followed.

“I was just really one-track minded,” John Gillon said.  “I really wanted to win. We needed to win. That was my one focus.” 

 His buzzer beater gave Gillion 26 points and six assists on the night. And zero turnovers. 

“To be able to play in this game and play against Duke, it was a dream come true,” Gillon said.. “I don’t take it for granted. I’m glad I could play like that on that stage.”

"For me it went exactly right, except the end,” Krzyzewski said.  “We are supposed to hit the shot and they were supposed to miss. We were supposed to win but they screwed up my game plan.”

Heaven Sent

The Dome was as loud as it’s been in a long time, and for good reason.  This was one of the great college basketball games this year, or in recent years.

“It took me a little bit to realize what had happened,” Lydon said.  “I just stood there. I was down by the paint. I kind of just looked at the basket like, ‘Thank you, Lord’. It felt really good, obviously.”

Cardinals Next

Syracuse improved to 17-12, 9-7 in ACC play and again has a legitimate chance at making the NCAA tournament after the third victory over a top-ten team at home court this season. 

The Orange has two more games left before the ACC tournament.  The road doesn’t get any easier, as as it leads to Louisville and Rick Pitino’s seventh-ranked Cardinals on Sunday in Louisville.  The Orange lost to Louisville in overtime in the Dome earlier this month.The Cardinals will be smarting from a pounding they took at North Carolina Wednesday night.

Duke dropped to 22-6, 10-5 in the ACC, and will travel to Coral Gables to take on the Miami Hurricanes this Saturday.