Duke vs. Syracuse: Score and Reaction from 2017 Regular Season

John Gillon hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer that banked off the backboard to give Syracuse a 78-75 upset win over No. 10 Duke on Wednesday night at the Carrier Dome.    

ESPN College Basketball captured the deciding basket:

"

John Gillon drills the GAME-WINNER for Syracuse! pic.twitter.com/qpvjVOYJu8

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) February 23, 2017"

The final 13 minutes of the game featured back-and-forth play with neither team earning more than a three-point advantage. The Orange forced a missed shot by Luke Kennard with nine seconds remaining, and Gillon did the rest to give Syracuse its biggest win of the year.

Gillon has been hot-and-cold this season but was at his best Wednesday, finishing with a game-high 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting, plus six assists and zero turnovers.

This came after he shot just 2-of-10 in a loss to Georgia Tech on Sunday, which Brent Axe of Syracuse.com joked about:

The Orange moved to 17-12 and 9-7 in the ACC, which has arguably been the toughest conference in the country. Duke fell to 22-6 and 10-5 in conference, losing for the first time in eight games.

Jayson Tatum was dominant early on for the Blue Devils, tallying 14 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in the first half alone while helping the visitors take a 33-25 halftime lead.

The freshman finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Although Duke maintained control for most of the first half, neither team was especially impressive offensively, as ESPN Stats and Info noted:

Syracuse looked much better in the second frame, storming back with some quality shooting before eventually tying the game at 47-47 with a little over 13 minutes left.

The Blue Devils ended up in trouble when both Kennard and Grayson Allen picked up their fourth fouls, hurting their ability to defend. Allen also struggled on the offensive end while finishing with eight points on 2-of-11 shooting.

Kennard did his job with 23 points but couldn't make his final attempt, giving Gillon the chance at the game-winner.

Plenty of those watching were surprised at the outcome:

Orange guard Tyus Battle added 18 points in the win, which saw Syracuse shooting 53.2 percent from the field, giving the squad a major victory as it tries to end up on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble.

A road matchup against No. 7 Louisville looms Sunday for the Orange, but Wednesday's victory takes some of the pressure off that battle.

Duke remains in good shape with its seeding, but its chances of winning the ACC are slimmer. The squad will try to bounce back against the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday.

Postgame Reaction

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski didn't blame the loss on the final play.

"The end of game wasn't unexpected," he said, per Chris Carlson of Syracuse.com. "We didn't manage the entire game. God bless them for hitting that. We could have done better."

Meanwhile, Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins was excited about the finish:

This is high praise considering he has been with the program in some capacity for almost 30 years. As for Orange head coach Jim Boeheim, he just wanted his colleague to take it easy on him.

"I told [Coach K] to help us out a little bit," he said, per Breland Moore of News 10 NBC. "We needed it more. I helped him win three gold medals; he can give us with a win."

It's hard to imagine Duke let him have this victory, but it was a big one for Syracuse.