NEW YORK — By late Saturday night, Duke may very well be lugging the championship trophy around the Barclays Center and feeling good about things again. Moods and fortunes can change that quickly in the ACC tournament.
The only emotion the Blue Devils could enjoy on Thursday afternoon was relief, and that only narrowly.
A win is a win is a win, but letting a six-player Syracuse team missing its best player hang around for 38 minutes is not exactly the behavior of a national championship contender, especially one whose character was already being called into question.
