Duke vs. Syracuse: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

The Syracuse Orange approached Saturday night's budding rivalry matchup with the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils like a championship game, but they fell victim to an early second-half Blue Devils surge in an 80-72 defeat.

In a dreamlike frontcourt matchup between two of the nation's best, Duke freshman Jahlil Okafor got the best of Syracuse senior Rakeem Christmas. Okafor had a banner performance with 23 points and 13 rebounds, persevering through foul trouble and holding Christmas to 11 points on 5-of-17 shooting.

Laura Keeley of The Charlotte Observer had Jim Boeheim's thoughts on Okafor. "He'll be the first pick of the draft," Boeheim said. "He has the best footwork of any big man I've seen."

Here's a look at the game's box score:

Team	1	2	F
Scoring Leaders	Points	Rebounds	Assists
Duke	36	44	80
Syracuse	39	33	72
Michael Gbinije, Syracuse	27	6	4
Jahlil Okafor, Duke	23	13	0
Tyler Roberson, Syracuse	19	10	1
Quinn Cook, Duke	16	3	5

Looking to repeat the magic of last year's overtime win in the Carrier Dome, Syracuse appeared to be shot out of a cannon early on. Led by Duke transfer Michael Gbinije's 19 first-half points, the Orange shot 7-of-11 from deep in the opening frame. Despite that, the Blue Devils were down by only three at halftime.

When the second half began, Duke took control and jumped out to a pair of double-digit leads. Syracuse clawed back to bring it to within a couple of possessions late in the game, but the shots wouldn't fall in the closing moments.

Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

It's an uneasy time in Syracuse, with the team facing a surprising self-postseason ban and looking for reasons to get motivated game in and game out. There was no problem with that Saturday night, as the Carrier Dome filled to capacity for one of college basketball's biggest matchups.

"It's a great matchup every time we play," Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim told John Kekis of The Associated Press, via The News Journal. "They have a great team. It'll be a great day for college basketball like it was last year."

The Orange answered by giving the fans a show early on, and the Blue Devils were up for the challenge in a game that went back and forth at a feverish pace in the early minutes, as USA Today's Nicole Auerbach noticed:

The fast play went the way of Syracuse, which led for almost the entirety of the first half. And when Duke made its biggest run of the opening period, former Blue Devil and recent Syracuse standout Gbinije was there to distance the Orange again.

He went on a personal 9-0 run to keep Syracuse ahead, a part of his 19-point first half largely aided by a hot streak from three-point land. Keeley noted the contrast from his season at Duke:

Syracuse needed Gbinije to break out with Christmas unable to get going against Okafor, but he wasn't the only one. Tyler Roberson and Trevor Cooney also played a great first half and put the Orange ahead by double digits, per Brent Axe of Syracuse.com:

Christmas' defensive presence made up for it early on against Okafor, but the fabulous freshman couldn't be contained when Christmas notched his second foul. Okafor and Duke went to work late in the half to make it only a three-point deficit entering the break, helped by a mismatch in the post, per Dan Tortora:

It's safe to say Duke was fortunate to have cut it to three at the break while shooting below 40 percent, but the Orange had some good luck on their side as well. They pretty much couldn't miss from deep in the first half, as ESPN College Basketball showed:

"

Syracuse leads #4 Duke, 39-36 at the half. #DUKEvsCUSE Cuse: 63.6% 3-pt (7-11) http://t.co/jCXVKrIFVk Blue Devils: 38.9% FG (14-36)

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) February 15, 2015"

Duke did a good job of fighting to get back in it, but it still needed to find an answer for its former player, as Axe noted:

After making it a tight contest entering halftime, the Blue Devils came out for the second half intent on quieting the Carrier Dome and putting this one away.

Duke scored 13 of the first 15 points of the second half, coming from behind to take a double-digit lead with just under 13 minutes remaining. That was part of an impressive 20-5 run by the Blue Devils, as told by the team's official Twitter:

Before you could blink, Duke had regained momentum and the lead, as told by Seth Davis of CBS Sports:

With the second half wearing on, the Blue Devils were distancing themselves, and the Orange attempts from deep stopped falling consistently. Syracuse needed more than ever for its star in the post to come to play, and he just couldn't get going.

The edge between Christmas and Okafor leaned more and more toward the Duke center as the game wore along, as ESPN College Basketball showed:

"

Jahlil Okafor 15 points, 9 rebounds Rakeem Christmas 5 points, 4 rebounds #DUKEvsCUSE on ESPN pic.twitter.com/yrbJV1xik3

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) February 15, 2015"

Duke's lead felt impenetrable with six minutes to go after Justise Winslow put the Blue Devils up eight, but foul trouble took two of the team's most important freshmen off the floor entering the stretch run. Christmas scored to cut it to six, and the stage was set for a late comeback, per CuseNation.com:

Syracuse set itself up for multiple chances to hit shots to cut the deficit to just one possession, but they simply wouldn't fall. When Kaleb Joseph's three-point attempt with 1:08 left missed, the game turned into a battle at the foul line that Duke wasn't about to relinquish.

Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

It's hard to project where Syracuse goes from here. Saturday night's contest had the feel of a championship game, because it pretty much was. Without any hope for the postseason, the Orange's only aspirations to make something of the season are games like this one.

After the game, Boeheim told Keeley, "This is about as good as we can play."

Syracuse turns around to host No. 9 Louisville on Wednesday before hosting No. 2 Virginia late in the year. But after last year's instant-classic win over Duke, repeating history would have made for the season's biggest moment.

As for Duke, it continues to showcase vast improvement from a team last season that didn't win many of these types of contests. The Blue Devils have now won five straight heading into the big midweek Tobacco Road showdown with No. 12 North Carolina.