No. 6 Duke demolishes Syracuse in historic fashion in Mike Krzyzewski's last trip to the Carrier Dome

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Mike Krzyzewski’s last appearance at the Carrier Dome won’t be remembered fondly by most of the 31,803 in attendance that shuffled out early during Duke’s blowout win.

The No. 6 Blue Devils led by as many as 30 points in the first half and used an early offensive onslaught to take any drama out of the possible last meeting between college basketball’s two winningest coaches.

Sophomore center Mark Williams led the way with a career-high 28 points during a 97-72 win that moved Duke (25-4, 15-3) a victory away from securing its first ACC regular-season title since 2010 and the No. 1 seed in next month’s ACC Tournament.

Coach K and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim entered the game 1-2 in terms of all-time career wins. Krzyzewski easily moved his all-time record to 12-5 over Boeheim on Saturday in his biggest margin of victory in the series between the two.

The previous largest margin of victory in the series was set earlier this season when Duke defeated Syracuse 79-59 on Jan. 22. Saturday's game was also the second-largest margin of defeat at home in Boeheim’s tenure.

Before the game, Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack presented Coach K with a framed picture of him and Boeheim shaking hands before a previous game at the Carrier Dome. 

"It's a historic day," Wildhack said. "The last time in the Carrier Dome the two winningest coaches in college basketball go head-to-head."

Wildhack also announced the Captain Michael William Krzyzewski Award for leadership and civic engagement, a scholarship that will be awarded annually to a Syracuse student with ties to the military.

"The honor that they bestowed on me today was just absolutely amazing," Coach K said after the win. 

Three Duke players finished with at least 20 points with freshman Paolo Banchero scoring 18 of his 21 points in the first half while freshman A.J. Griffin added 20 on a 6-of-10 performance from the 3-point line. The Blue Devils tied a season-high with 15 made 3-pointers, including four from Banchero, who had only hit five on 17 attempts in the last seven games.

"For the past few weeks, I've been putting unnecessary pressure on myself," Banchero said. "I was overthinking, especially on the offensive end, overanalyzing and it affected my game. So, just realizing when I play free and have fun, I play better."

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Duke dropped 51 points on Syracuse in the first half — the most the Orange have allowed this season — and led 48-18 with 5:05 left in the half before Syracuse closed with a 16-3 run.

The Blue Devils opened the half on a 17-2 run and stretched that lead to 36-13 while hitting 13 of their first 15 shots.

Syracuse, led by Buddy Boeheim’s 23 points, failed to get within single digits in the second half as it dropped to 15-14 overall and 9-9 in the ACC.

Earlier in the week, Coach K said his team had turned the corner in terms of preparing and practicing for the game, and on Saturday, Duke showed the potential to give Krzyzewski a sixth championship on his way out the door.

"We've been a much more mature team," Coach K said of his team's current five-game win streak. "When you only have a year with a team then it's a matter of how old you can get. We played like an older team today."

Duke will be back on the road Tuesday, March 1 against Pitt before ending the regular season at Cameron Indoor Stadium against UNC.

David Thompson is an award-winning reporter for the USA Today Network covering NC State and Duke athletics. He can be reached at [email protected], at 828-231-1747, or on Twitter at @daveth89.