With star big man Zion Williamson sidelined by a sprained right knee, the Duke Blue Devils went on the road and avenged a January loss with a 75-65 victory over the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome on Saturday.

RJ Barrett led the way with 30 points and seven assists, and sophomore guard Alex O'Connell put up 20 points behind a career-high five three-pointers. Cam Reddish contributed five points to the win.

Elijah Hughes had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Orange.

Zion's Injury Exposes Duke's Lack of Depth

Losing the presumptive National Player of the Year would expose any team's flaw—even if the roster still features a pair of potential top-five picks.

With a healthy Williamson, Duke appeared to be the overwhelming favorite to cut down the nets in April. Without the freshman phenom, though, the Blue Devils may not even make it to Minnesota.

That much has been clear over the past two games.

It's understandable for a team to become disoriented after losing its best player early in a game, especially when it happens against a top-tier rival. In other words, there's no shame in losing to No. 8 North Carolina when the whole game plan had to be changed following Williamson's knee injury.

But after having a few days to regroup, the Blue Devils didn't look much better.

The first 20 minutes of Saturday's contest turned into the Barrett show, as the freshman appeared to be the only one on the team who came to play. Here's a breakdown of the first-half numbers:

• RJ Barrett: 8-of-11 (1-of-2 from three-point range), 17 points
• Rest of Duke: 4-of-19 (2-of-13), 12 points

Incredibly, the Blue Devils only trailed by five heading into halftime.

Those have to be concerning numbers to coach Mike Krzyzewski, especially after how Wednesday's game played out. Against North Carolina, Barrett (33 points) and Reddish (27) were the only Duke players to record more than six points. Meanwhile, only two other Blue Devils made a field goal in 40 minutes against the Tar Heels, with Javin DeLaurier (3-of-3) the only one not named Barrett or Reddish to make multiple shots from the field.

As talented as Barrett may be, he needs help.

Duke's lack of depth became such a troublesome weakness that Coach K burned freshman forward Joey Baker's redshirt on Saturday by inserting him into a game for the first time all season. Baker (zero points on 0-of-1 shooting) may not have provided much of a boost, but using him speaks volumes about the team's issue.

To be fair, Barrett's supporting cast matched its first-half output within the first five minutes of the second frame. That proved to be exactly what Duke needed to gain momentum and grab the lead. In the end, O'Connell (four triples in the second half) provided Barrett with just enough help to pull out the win.

Even after Duke escaped Syracuse with a victory, it's impossible to ignore one glaring stat: The Blue Devils bench combined for four points.

It's possible the star-studded trio of Barrett, Reddish and Tre Jones will find a groove the more they play without Williamson, who is day-to-day. However, it's hard to envision Duke as the last team standing if it doesn't get a more complete effort for as long as Williamson remains sidelined.

What's Next

Both squads will be back in action Tuesday. Duke (24-3, 12-2) will head to Blacksburg, Virginia, for a showdown with No. 20 Virginia Tech, while Syracuse (18-9, 9-5) will make its way to Chapel Hill for a tilt against No. 8 North Carolina.