Duke basketball takes down No. 2 Wisconsin 80-70

MADISON, Wis.—With all the attention on the Jahlil Okafor-Frank Kaminsky matchup heading into Wednesday's top-5 clash, it seemed like somebody forgot to remind Wisconsin about Blue Devil point guard Tyus Jones.

Behind Jones' 22-point, six-rebound and four-assist performance, No. 4 Duke took down No. 2 Wisconsin 80-70 at the Kohl Center. The Blue Devils jumped out to a 22-16 lead in the first half and kept the Badgers at bay for the remainder of the game to secure their second win against a ranked opponent and eighth-straight victory to start the season. The win gave the ACC its fourth triumph in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, which the Big Ten had already won and now leads 8-4.

"It was great. They had a great crowd and we knew, being here, we'd get the full effect," Jones said. "We knew we had to lean on each other because it was going to be us against everybody in there.... My teammates gave me confidence, coaches gave me confidence and believed in me and that helps a lot."

After lighting the Badgers (7-1) up for eight points in the first half, including a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers with less than three minutes left to preserve Duke's lead, Jones continued to have the hot hand in the second half, adding 14 more points. The freshman used an array of jump shots and drives to frustrate the Wisconsin defense and maintain the slim lead.

"Tyus has played really well for us in the first seven games," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "[Associate head coach] Jeff Capel—in the last six, seven minutes—he said, 'Coach, let's go to him. He's a winner.' So that high ball-screen went to him at the end of the clock and he executed that well and just showed a lot poise."

The Badgers managed to keep the game close behind their 3-point shooting, as they went 9-of-21 from long range. But as good as the home team was from downtown, the Blue Devils (8-0) were even better, knocking down 7-of-12.

The marquee matchup within the top-5 clash was supposed to be between Okafor and Kaminsky. The battle in the paint only partially lived up to the hype throughout the contest due to Okafor's foul trouble—he picked up his fourth with more than five minutes left in the game and had to go back to the bench.

Okafor used his size and strength early, backing down Kaminsky to put the Blue Devils on the board first to go ahead 2-0. After Kaminsky began denying entry passes, Duke was forced to take more time running through its sets in order to get good looks.

On offense, Kaminsky got the crowd into it early, answering Okafor's bucket with a pair of 3-pointers. The long ball would continue to be the shot of choice for the Badgers, as they went 0-of-9 on two-point field goal attempts through the first nine minutes but used four 3-pointers to keep pace with the Blue Devils.

Kaminsky wound up with the better stat line, pacing the Badger frontcourt with 17 points and nine boards.

"We just said, 'Battle in the post' and our kids battled," Krzyzewski said. "Kaminsky's a great player and he and Jah kind of nullify one another because there's so much attention for both of them."

But as the talented big men battled down low, the Blue Devil backcourt showed why it is one of the top units in the nation.

A Nigel Hayes and-one gave the Badgers a 43-42 lead with 15:09 left in the contest. But as soon as it fell behind, Duke answered right back to take the lead following a Jones free throw and a 3-pointer from junior Rasheed Sulaimon. From that point on, the Blue Devils would not relinquish the lead.

With Jones' performance stealing the spotlight in the prime-time matchup, the Blue Devil bench and defense proved to be the two unsung heroes for Duke.

Sulaimon entered the game following the first media timeout and immediately made his presence felt, drilling a trey from the top of the arc to tie the game at 12. The Houston native finished the game with 14 points.

"Rasheed had a great game tonight," Krzyzewski said. "Rasheed is ready. He comes off the bench, he has embraced the role of being like that energizer. So when our freshmen see that the upperclassmen are really are kind of setting the table for them, it helps a lot."

Wisconsin was caught off-guard by the Duke defense in the first half, as the Blue Devils switched on nearly every screen. Duke has not done this consistently yet this year and the Badgers did not seem to anticipate the change. Freshman forward Justise Winslow created two steals, including one that led to a Marshall Plumlee breakaway dunk after Winslow dove to the ground for the ball after poking it loose and threw it ahead to put Duke up 16-12.

Winslow and Sulaimon effectively iced the game with less than 1:30 left, as Winslow broke free for a monster dunk and Sulaimon forced a Wisconsin travel to give Duke the ball back with a 73-65 lead. The Blue Devils made seven of eight free-throw attempts in the final minute to secure the win.

"We stuck together," Sulaimon said. "We kind of had the mentality we knew we were going to come in here and not many people were going to be on our side. So we played for each other.... At the end of the day, in this tough environment against this veteran team like that, we won because we stuck together."

Duke will get a 12-day reprieve following Wednesday's win, and will take the court again Dec. 15 at home against Elon.