Durham, N.C. – It was over by halftime.

Duke by then had established a 16-point lead, which Syracuse theoretically could have eroded in the next 20 minutes at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

But the way that half ended, the way the Blue Devils dug down on defense, stole the ball and gleefully celebrated dunks at the other end offered a mere hint of what awaited SU in the second half.

No. 3 Duke was that much better than Syracuse here.

The Blue Devils were every bit as dominant as the 101-64 score suggested.

“They were the better team,” William Kyle said, “and we give them all the credit.”

Syracuse is 6-8 in the ACC this season. In matchups against top-of-the-pack Duke and Virginia and North Carolina, the Orange has been clearly overmatched.

Maybe N.C. State, too.

Syracuse lost those games by double-digits. The scores sometimes did not indicate how handily the Orange was beaten. All those games, too, happened on the road.

SU coach Adrian Autry tried to explain the disparity between his team and the better ACC squads.

“Those games that you’re talking about (Duke, UVa, UNC), I think those are probably the more physical teams,” he said. “Big guys that are really big and physical and that can impact the game. Carolina’s front line and Duke’s front line and Virginia’s front line – all those guys can step out, shoot, pass. But I think the physicality is the biggest difference.”

His players acknowledged the problems the size and physicality those teams presented. Duke starts a front line of 6-foot-8, 6-foot-9, 6-foot-11. One of those guys – Cameron Boozer – could be the national player of the year. The Blue Devils guards are 6-5 and 6-6.

SU’s starters are 6-9, 6-9 and 6-5 along the back line. Its guards are 6-3 and 6-4.

But Kyle, too, touched on a theme among all the ACC teams that steamrolled the Orange.

“They’re disciplined,” he said. “They made us pay for all the little things; not being in the right spots at the right times. I mean, that’s what great teams do.”

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Syracuse Men’s basketball vs Duke in Durham

Duke outscored Syracuse 17-4 in points off turnovers, 22-14 in second-chance points.

It frustrated the Orange with harassing, unrelenting ball pressure, with defense coach Jon Scheyer described as the best he’s coached at Duke. And on offense, it could not miss.

Duke shot an astonishing 71.9% overall in the second half. It shot 75% from the 3-point line.

Scheyer signed the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class for four consecutive years; his last haul included the Boozers, Nikolas Khamenia and Dame Sarr.

Last year’s No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, former Blue Devil Cooper Flagg, was escorted into the building right before tip-off. The NBA is on All-Star hiatus.

Syracuse players keep acknowledging their lack of focus, their lack of discipline in games they lose this season. The Orange can hang with the big boys for a bit, but then a blunder or a series of missed shots or something else happens and they unravel.

But the talent discrepancy Monday between the teams on Coach K Court was obvious.

Syracuse needed to play perfect basketball to have a chance to win here.

That did not happen.

“Teams like that,” Tyler Betsey said, “they make you pay for your mistakes. You can’t make the same mistakes that you can make versus a team that’s not as good. I feel like we’re just as talented but we just make more mistakes and then good teams capitalize off those mistakes.”