Beyond the arc: Duke men's basketball vs. Kansas

Kansas' Frank Mason III knocked down a game-winning pull-up jumper with 1.8 seconds left to push the seventh-ranked Jayhawks past No. 1 Duke 77-75 Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. Duke had five players in double figures in scoring and rallied from a late 10-point deficit to tie it, but could not finish the job in the closing seconds.

Revisiting the three keys to the game:

• Defend the backcourt: The Blue Devils struggled to contain veteran Jayhawk guards Mason III and Devonte' Graham—the two combined for 34 points, shooting an efficient 14-of-25 from the field. Duke did manage to have success defending the 3-point line, though, as the duo finished just 1-of-7 on 3-pointers.
• Connect from beyond the arc: Duke battled its way out of as large as a 12-point hole thanks to its stellar 3-point shooting in the second half. Matt Jones, Luke Kennard and Frank Jackson combined to shoot 7-of-12 from downtown, and the Blue Devils hit on 6-of-11 3-point attempts in the final 20 minutes. Grayson Allen struggled throughout the night, though, knocking down just one 3-pointer on seven attempts.
• Stay out of foul trouble: Both Duke and Kansas failed miserably in defending without fouling. With the Blue Devils utilizing just a six-man rotation, fouls were an issue from the get-go, as Duke racked up six by the game's first media timeout. Amile Jefferson and Kansas guard Josh Jackson both fouled out and seven others picked up four fouls by the game's end. As a result, the Blue Devils struggled defensively in the waning minutes, allowing the Jayhawks to score on four of their final six possessions.

Three key stats:

• 48 total fouls called: The officials' whistles sounded early and often, as neither team was allowed to get away with much contact all night. Several questionable touch fouls called against each team affected both coaches' rotations and disrupted the flow of a tight battle between two top-10 teams.
• Kansas outrebounds Duke 38-29: The Blue Devils sorely missed freshmen Marques Bolden, Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum against the Jayhawks. With three of its big men sidelined for the third straight game, Duke lacked length and strength around the rim on both ends of the floor. Kansas forward Udoka Azubuike dominated the glass, collecting 12 boards in just 15 minutes as the Blue Devils were outscored 48-30 in the paint.
• Duke has 16 turnovers: The Blue Devils had their chances, but traveled and threw the ball away far too frequently. Jefferson led the team with seven giveaways and twice gave the ball away when Duke had a chance to build momentum with a substantial lead early in the game. And a handful of errors at the start of the second half allowed the Jayhawks to seize control of the contest after the Blue Devils had carried a five-point lead into intermission.

Three key plays:

• 3:04 remaining, second half: With Duke down by eight, Frank Jackson snuck into the corner and fired off a triple after Kennard found the freshman with a nifty feed. Mason III fouled Jackson in the process, but the Alpine, Utah, native nailed the 3-pointer falling away. Jackson then hit the ensuing free throw to put momentum back in the Blue Devils’ hands and cut the Kansas lead to just four.
• 0:20 remaining, second half: Duke was down by three when Jackson received another pass from Kennard on the wing and fired up yet another long bomb. The 6-foot-3 guard rattled home his second triple in as many tries, and after trailing by nine with only 3:45 to play, the Blue Devils had tied the game at 75 apiece.
• 0:02 remaining, second half: With the game all knotted up, Jayhawk head coach Bill Self called his final timeout to draw up one last play. Isolated against Jones, Mason III drove to the left elbow, and despite a mild contest from the Blue Devil senior, buried the jumper to seal the game's final margin.

And the Duke game ball goes to.... Luke Kennard