Jefferson outduels Harrell, shows aggressiveness in win at Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—There were a lot of rare occurrences in Saturday’s Duke-Louisville showdown at the KFC Yum! Center.

Head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s team played zone throughout the game, the Cardinals shot just as poorly as they did when they lost to No. 1 Kentucky Dec. 27—their ice cold shooting seemed incomprehensible then and still did Saturday—and the No. 4 Blue Devils held the No. 6 team in the country to 52 points after Miami scored 56 in just the second half Tuesday in Durham.

But one of the biggest surprises was that Duke won the battle at the power forward position. The Blue Devils’ Amile Jefferson had a career day, scoring 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting and 7-of-9 from the free throw line and grabbing seven rebounds. By contrast, Louisville’s first-team Preseason AP All-American Montrezl Harrell struggled for much of the game against Duke’s zone, scoring most of his 10 points on just 4-of-10 shooting after the Blue Devils built a 21-point lead in the second half.

Harrell had a double-double with 14 rebounds and his usual relentless hustle, but it was Jefferson who took center stage in Saturday’s showdown as the Cardinals left the often-overlooked Philadelphia native open to help on center Jahlil Okafor.

“For me it was just about finding open spots, then when I got the ball just being aggressive,” Jefferson said. “Jah when they were doubling him did a great job finding me. He pretty much gave me layups, so I was just trying to finish.”

Jefferson shined in the first half, scoring 10 points, grabbing six rebounds and showing the emotion that has made Harrell such a fan favorite in Louisville. On the other end, Harrell struggled in the period and was forced outside because of the Blue Devil zone. The junior missed four tough shots before hitting a jumper in the waning seconds of the half.

Although Harrell had seven first-half rebounds, Louisville missed its 6-foot-8 pinball's scoring and could only watch as Jefferson showed tenacity he rarely has before. At one point, the 6-foot-9 forward drove hard to the paint and tried to throw down a monster one-handed slam. He missed and had to settle for free throws after a blocking foul, but the play was indicative of Jefferson’s new mindset.

"I wanted to make a play,” Jefferson said. “That’s what I tried to do all night, to make a play for our team. The lane just happened to be open and I just tried to finish it. I tried to attack the rim and it worked out.”

Jefferson’s success helped open things up for Okafor—who scored 14 of his 18 points after halftime—but the captain still found different ways to make an impact, making several crucial free throws and helping Duke compete on the glass.

Led by Harrell, Louisville went after its frequent misses with reckless abandon and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, including 10 in the first half. Jefferson’s efforts to secure box-outs after halftime brought contagious energy and helped the Blue Devils withstand the Cardinals' attempt at a late run.

After struggling early in conference play and being benched against N.C. State, Jefferson bounced back on a big stage, and his play was a welcome sight for teammates who had all recently received their fair share of criticism lately.

“In big games he always plays well,” co-captain Quinn Cook said. “Coach [K] really got on him the past couple of games, he didn’t start against N.C. State…. Coach has been on him and he responded today.”